Gertrude Wilson

Gertrude Wilson was born Gertrude Galgsdies to Johann and Magdalene Galgsdies 97 years ago in Lingen, East Prussia (Germany). She was born into the wonderful world of a self-sufficient, successful, 220-acre farm, and until the end of her life fondly recalled vignettes of a weekly bread-baking day, the family’s prized horse-drawn carriage, and the details of her education in a one-room schoolhouse. That idyll was abruptly broken near the end of WWII when her brother came running home from the post office with the news that the Soviet army was nearby and advancing. Gertrude’s father was off fighting in the German army, so Gertrude’s mother made the necessary arrangements: she hastened to the barn to bury important items, gathered her children, and they departed with their memories and what they could carry, never to return home again.

After a long journey by horse, on foot, and by boat, and after the miracle of being reunited through the Red Cross, the Galgsdies family settled in Hamburg, Germany, and began to reshape a drastically different life. Gertrude attended Haushaltungschule (housekeeping school) and assumed she would marry a farmer, but a paternal aunt working at the Turkish embassy in Germany introduced her to a different idea and a broader future—working for the Americans.

Gertrude left her family to work for Brigadier General Oliver Bierne Patton, tending to his children as a nanny. That connection led to her working for Brigadier General Ernest Bixby and his wife Paula, and living in LaRochelle, France, where Bixby was Commanding General. Throughout her life, Gertrude spoke with utmost respect and fondness for the Bixbys, for when the General and his wife had left their European post and returned to Fort Bragg, NC, they had continued to employ her and had sponsored her to come to the US. They had treated her like a daughter, providing English lessons and cultural experiences. Those English lessons had led to her correspondence with her future husband, Bill, and a move to upstate New York, where they were married in 1954.

In 1966, her husband’s civil service job having transferred him to the Army depot in Tobyhanna, PA, Gertrude and Bill bought a home on Miller Street in Stroudsburg. Gertrude found work at Penn Hills, a well-known honeymoon resort in Analomink PA, and managed its gift shop for over four decades, until she was 75. She was a beloved part of a yearly pilgrimage for many couples, and she would often come home full of happiness because returning guests had come to the shop to visit with her and to update her on their lives.

Gertrude spent 52 years in Stroudsburg. She and Bill connected over loving the Lord, and were always faithful servants to their church, whether it was St. John’s Lutheran, United Church of Christ, or, eventually, East Stroudsburg United Methodist. They were always helping and participating wherever they were needed, leading prayer, painting, helping with church suppers, taking meals to shut-ins…just, pitching in. It was during those years they raised their adopted daughter and gave her a life she would never have otherwise had. Gertrude did an amazing job of imparting work ethic, tenacity, love of animals and nature, and a sense of intellectual curiosity. She also made sure her daughter was connected to her German heritage, taking her abroad to visit family three times during formative years.

After Bill died, Gertrude moved to North Carolina to be near Maria, Chris, and Emma, her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. She was well into her 80s, and the decision was not one easily taken. That experience of leaving home forever had made the concept of “being home” significant in a way of which she never spoke, but which her family finally figured out. That she would consent to uproot herself one more time, never to see her home of 52 years again, means the world to them in retrospect.

Her new life in North Carolina centered around her little family and the church—Pamlico Methodist in “Little Pamlico.” She loved to walk there of a Sunday morning, and eventually, she loved her weekly golf cart ride to church.

Owing to her longevity, Gertrude was preceded in death by many family members: her husband, Bill; her mother and father, Magdalene and Johann Galgsdies; her sister Ruth Bajorat as well as Ruth’s husband, artist Archibald Bajorat; her sister Helene “Lenchen” Lammers; her brother Willi Galgsdies; and her brother Heinz Galgsdies of Australia, as well as his wife, Maureen Galgsdies.

Gertrude is survived by her daughter Maria, her son-in-law Chris, her beloved granddaughter Emma, her dear friends Kelly Ace and Stacie McKeever, her brother Heinz’s children Mark and Marina Galgsdies and their families, her sister Lenchen’s children Jorg and Astrid Lammers, their father Uwe, and their families.

Family, caregivers, friends, church family, and Gertrude’s devoted dog Patch gathered last Sunday, March 8, to celebrate her life and honor her passing by attending church and then gathering in the fellowship hall for a splendid feast put on by the ladies of Pamlico Methodist. A funeral service and interment ceremony took place thereafter, and Gertrude has been laid to rest in the church’s hallowed and intimate cemetery.

Anyone wishing to make a donation in honor of Gertrude’s memory may write a check to “Pamlico Methodist Church” and put “building fund, memory of GW” in the memo line. The mailing address is Pamlico Methodist Church 4288 Orchard Creek Road, Oriental, NC 28571.