Irmgard Froeschke

October 10th, 1930 - July 27th, 2022

Irmgard's Memory Wall

We encourage you to share your most beloved memories of Irmgard here, so that the family and other loved ones can always see it. Share your favorite stories or comment on those shared by others.

Our family prays that God grants you all comfort in your time of sorrow and strength going forward.

I remember your Mother telling me a story during the WW2 of how your Grandmother - Aunt Emma (as we called her) was a very good cook and she cooked for the Russian officers. Irmgard stated that this is how she and the family survived during the war.

We will always the remember the smiles that your Father and Mother always had on their face when they greeted you, such a special couple!

Rich & Vicki Fecho (daughter of Oscar and Lucille Schinske

Rich & Vicki Fecho

August 2nd, 2022 at 10:26am

What can I say? I am deeply saddened upon hearing about the passing of Irmgard. Honestly, besides maybe as a child at family reunions, I only ever met Irmgard once. If only I had been born sooner so that I could have met her more often and spoken more German with her and Franz! But the one time I went to see Franz and Irmgard at Caretel in either summer 2016 or 2017 was perhaps the most valuable family meeting of my life. I didn't speak German too well at the time so we talked in English (my dad was there as well) and while asking them stories about their lives they were able to tell me things about our family history that you don't get from documents in an archive. Irmgard showed me a photo of my great-great-grandmother Schinschke that I had never seen before and was able to tell me that she was buried in Großhansdorf, Germany. Irmgard had survived the end of the war with her grandmother and her mother Emma and her brothers and they ended up in this village by Hamburg. Just 2.5 weeks ago I finally went to Großhansdorf and saw the spot where my great-great grandmother Schinschke was buried. That would have been impossible without Irmgard being able to remember this information 65 years later. I know she probably wouldn't have been able to recognize or remember much, but I only wish I could have returned to the US and showed her the photos I took. But we should be happy! She is in heaven with Jesus and Franz now and her family again. We can only hope we will join them ourselves one day.

I'd like to share another story that Irmgard passed along to me that I will never forget. Irmgard also knew her grandfather Gottfried Schinschke (my great-great grandfather) before he passed away in 1943. She was able to tell me that he used to tell her stories of when he lived in Volhynia in Ukraine. For example one day he had gone to town with a sleigh and two horses pulling it and was returning home when he noticed that he was being followed by some wolves. In order to protect himself he took one of the horses and tied it to a tree hoping that the wolves would go for the horse and he could make his way back home with the other horse and the sleigh. He made it home just fine, but found out the next day that the horse he left for dead had somehow survived and made it's own way back to the farm. Except the horse remembered what Gottfried had done and wouldn't let Gottfried get close anymore! Irmgard was able to tell me a couple of oral history stories like this about my great-great grandfather who she had personally known and I again would never find these stories in any archive. I felt such a connection through her to my whole family, past and present. I also am currently doing more research right now about the family in East Prussia that she was a part of. Irmgard war eine große Inspiration für mich und ich werde sie nie vergessen.

I am sorry I cannot attend the funeral (I live in Poland right now). Möge Irmgard ihren ewigen Frieden im Himmel genießen.

Mein Beileid an die Familie. Ich wünsche euch das Allerbeste.

- Zachary Schinske