Obituary of Elisabeth Marquardt Deutsch

Elisabeth Marquardt Deutsch

August 10, 1931 – August 8, 2023

Elisabeth G. Marquardt was born on August 10, 1931, on a farming estate in Gross Kemlack in East Prussia, which is now Poland. She passed away peacefully in her sleep at Regions Hospital in Ramsey County, Minnesota, on August 8, 2023.

Elisabeth loved her early life on the farm. She lived with her parents, grandparents and four younger siblings; brothers, Friedbert and Otto, and sisters, Renate and Gisela. Then WW II arrived and everything changed. Both her father, Horst Marquardt, and mother, Ida Johanna Maria Deutsch, died during the war.

In late 1944 when the war was coming to an end, the Russians advanced into the Eastern part of Germany. Elisabeth’s grandmother gathered her five grandchildren and taking only a few items that they could carry fled to an aunt’s farm on a peninsula in the North Sea.

After the war, Elisabeth worked as a nanny in Sweden and subsequently in England. She learned to become proficient in the English language. She later returned to Germany and worked as a translator for a German bank. Elisabeth moved to the United States when she married Dr. Harold Charles Deutsch in 1991. It was her first and only marriage. Dr. Deutsch was a renowned WW II scholar and was a distant cousin of Elisabeth’s. They lived happily in the Twin Cities area and relished traveling. Their many trips included to China, Yucatan, Mexico and a road trip through Greece and Turkey. Elisabeth loved the United States and became a US citizen.

After her husband Dr. Deutsch’s death in 1995, Elisabeth lived in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. It was with great pleasure and pride that Elisabeth organized and personally guided many members of her American family on a tour of her native Germany. Her venturous spirit persisted when she went on an eight day rafting trip in the Grand Canyon with some of her American cousins, as well as trips to Alaska and Hawaii. Family relationships were always important to Elisabeth leading to many trips to Colorado, Florida and Maryland. A favorite destination on an annual basis was the Lake Superior shore, traveling to Ely, visiting the Wolf Center and relaxing at a favorite restaurant in Grand Marais.

Elisabeth is survived by her two sisters, Renate and Gisela, nieces and nephews, and many American cousins. She is remembered for her love of family, independent spirit and her extraordinary life.

A Celebration of Life for Elisabeth will be held on October 21, 2023, at the Best Western atrium behind Rudy’s Redeye Grill, 4940 Hwy 61 North, White Bear Lake, MN, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. A light luncheon will be served.