Hildegarde Liederbach

A loving, caring, and faithful person, Hildy Liederbach earned the admiration of her family and friends through her virtues of personal strength, honesty and trustworthiness. Her dedication to her family was endless. Family and friends will always remember her for her warm smile and positive attitude.

The year 1929 was a time of change for the United States. During the first months of this year, America still enjoyed the prosperity of the post-war era. However, with the fall of the stock market on Black Tuesday, prosperity was overtaken by misfortune. The Great Depression set in, and every family across the country found themselves affected. In this time of unexpected hardship, Erwin Seifert and his wife Anni maintained their positive spirits by focusing on the blessings in their lives, especially the birth of their first and only child Hildegarde.

Born on June 3, 1929 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hildy was the first generation of German immigrants to be born in the United States. The Seifert family lived just a few miles west of Milwaukee, in the town of Wauwatosa. Hildy's father provided for the family through his work as a carpenter, while her mother busied herself with the tasks of a seamstress. Though it was a difficult time in American history, Hildy enjoyed her childhood. Her parents remained very closely-knit with their brothers and sisters, and Hildy grew up with the company of her cousins Paul Seifert, Jr., Inge (Seitz) Kraninger, and Edith (Seitz) Ahl; she would stay close to these cousins throughout her life.

In the year 1947, Hildy graduated from Wauwatosa East High School. She then moved with her family to Milwaukee, where she found a job at the Golden Guernsey Company, operating a comptometer in the payroll department. Hildy was soon introduced to a milkman who worked in the same company named Thomas Liederbach. They quickly fell in love with one another, and soon it was clear that he and Hildy would spend their lives together. But on the eve of their wedding, just after the rehearsal, a tragedy befell the otherwise happy event; the maid of honor's fiance was killed in a car accident just after leaving the rehearsal. The maid of honor, who was also Hildy's best friend at the time, could not participate in the wedding. Hildy quickly found a substitute, and on October 7, 1950, the scheduled date, she and Tom married at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. As was characteristic of her, she met this tragedy with strength, grace, and dignity.

After the wedding, Hildy and Tom settled down in the flat above his parents' home. Tom now earned a living as an apprentice carpenter for Hildy's father. Four years after their marriage, their first daughter Barbara was born, which inspired Hildy and Tom to move into a house of their own. Her father Erwin built the home where they would live from 1955 until 1963. This house saw the birth of their second child Jeff in 1957.

When the children were still young, Hildy and Tom decided to return to Wauwatosa. Hildy continued to stay at home to look after her children, but she kept herself very active by participating in their lives. She was a leader in the Girl Scouts and a den mother in the Cub Scouts, and she continued to remain active in all her childrens activities.

Family was always at the center of Hildy's life, and she enjoyed all the time that she spent with her husband and children. Frequently in the summer, she would pack up the family to go to her in-laws' cabin on the Peshtigo River. During her children's teenage years, they vacationed at a summer home on Lake Mills. Both Peshtigo and Lake Mills will be remembered as places where the family gathered, where there was always lots of laughing, lots of sheepshead, and other games.

In the year 1966, with the passing of her father, Hildy's mother moved into the family house. With her mother available to look after the children and to take care of some of the meals, Hildy returned to the working world by taking a job at JC Penny. She once joked that she was buying more than she was earning in her salary. After a while, she decided to pursue a more challenging career; she returned to school to obtain her license in real estate. Once certified, she started a company with her husband and family friends, entitled Scholler-Liederbach Real Estate. The company was sold a few years later, but Hildy remained in the real estate business and soon focused on selling condominiums. For fifteen years she was a very successful realtor.

Despite her steady progress in the real estate business, in 1986 Hildy agreed to leave Milwaukee to accommodate her husband's job transfer to Montgomery, Alabama. It was a difficult transition for her, as it meant leaving her job and her friends and family. However, their stay in Montgomery was short-lived, as Tom soon found another career in Nashville, Tennessee. They would move again shortly, this time to Atlanta, Georgia. While these frequent moves were sometimes challenging, Hildy took great pride in the way she decorated her new houses, and she also had a new career to pass her time. Upon moving to Montgomery, she began working on tax returns for H.R. Block.

As family was one of Hildy's strongest commitments, she made sure to take care of her mother after Erwin's passing. For several years Anni continued to live in Wisconsin, until Hildy helped her get situated in a house of her own. Hildy found a nice condo in Florida, where Anni would live for several years until her health began to decline. Hildy then found a home for her mother in the Atlanta area, so that she could visit frequently and look after her. This is something that Hildy did out of the loving commitment she felt toward her mother.

In her free time, Hildy enjoyed to cook, and her delicious meals always beckoned a full table. She was eager to experiment with her recipes, and many of her best dishes have found a place in the recipe books of her family and friends. Throughout her life, she always took her knitting with her when she left the house. It was a skill that she used to make lots of clothing for her family. Over the years she enjoyed reading, playing cards, namely canasta, sheepshead, and bridge, and jigsaw and crossword puzzles. She stayed active by playing tennis, racquetball, and golf. When she and Tom bought their first boat, the Altair, Hildy enjoyed many sailing outings on Lake Michigan with family and friends. She always loved to travel, and she and her family often travelled to warm destinations like the Bahamas and Florida. While the places they visited were always fun and interesting, it was the company of her family and friends that Hildy treasured most.

As a woman who made friends easily, Hildy liked to be involved with many social groups, especially within the church. Many of her fond memories include the time that she spent with her friends in the Harmony, Dancing, and Bridge clubs. Additionally, she was a very active member in the Lutheran churches of St. Matthew, Christ Our Hope, and Prince of Peace. Her spirituality was very important, and by using her faith as her guide in life, Hildy earned her reputation as a very kind woman who was faithful to her Lord and Church. She was a quietly generous woman, who tried in her own ways to make the world a better place. This is something she did throughout her life, especially in her later years when she dedicated a lot of her time to volunteer work. She not only worked with the church, but also with the local hospital and the IRS, helping elderly persons with their taxes.

In the year 1996, Hildy's faith was tested by her mother, Anni, passing on May 1 and then the death of her husband, Tom, in an airplane accident on August 5, just a few months later. But Hildy's faith and strong character helped her through her grief, and she made the most of her final years as a widow. She settled down in her own condo in Largo, Florida, and she passed a lot of her time by traveling around the world with family, relatives, and friends. She visited Hawaii, Japan, Canada, Europe, Central America (the Panama Canal), Scandinavia, and Russia. On Holidays and other special occasions, Hildy continued to follow the tradition of spending this time with family.

With the grace of her warm and loving personality, Hildy touched the lives of all who knew her. She will be greatly missed and frequently remembered by the many people who loved her.

Hildy died on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004 in Ann Arbor, MI. She is survived by her two loving children Barbara (Richard) Piester and Jeffrey (Pamela) Liederbach; two grandchildren, Timothy and Stephanie Liederbach and three cousins, Paul Seifert Jr., Inge (Seitz) Kraninger and Edith (Seitz) Ahl. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2004 from 9:30 -10:30 a.m. at St. Matthews Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1615 Wauwatosa, Wauwatosa, WI 53213. A Life Story memorial service will take place at 10:30 a.m. with Rev. Gary Erickson officiating. Inurnment will follow at Wisconsin Memorial Park, Brookfield, WI. Please visit Hildy’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you leave a personal memory or sign the register. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, c/o Parish Nurse Ministry, 455 Missouri Ave., Largo, FL 33770. Arrangements by the Nie Life Story Funeral Home, 2400 Carpenter Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48108.