Waltraud "Emy" Gartzke

Waltraud Emilie Dorothee (“Emy”) Gartzke, born Koenig and later known as Denker, died July 9, 2024, after 95 years of travels and adventures. Her journeys began on Easter Sunday, March 31, 1929, in Hannover, Germany, when she was born to Dorothe “Dora” Koenig. She claimed that being born on an Easter Sunday gave her the ability to talk with animals, and this was never disproved. Waltraud’s birth father, Wilhelm Caspary, was a pharmacist and loved her deeply, even though he was unable to be with her as much as he would have liked. Waltraud’s adoptive father, Erich Denker, married Dora in the spring of 1944 and formed a new family, which included the younger sister Waltraud wanted, Christa Carla Denker. Waltraud’s older sister, Hildegard Koenig, chose a different family path instead of the one with Erich and Dora. Waltraud graduated “Lyceum” in 1948 and started studying Chemistry at the University of Mainz in what was then the Western Zone of Germany. In 1951, Waltraud won a Fulbright Scholarship to go to the University of Wyoming for a year to continue her studies.

On the ship to America, Waltraud met a native of Milwaukee, the skinny, ex-naval petty officer, current law student, and future lawyer and judge, Paul Gartzke. She peeled an orange for him, and he said she could do that for him for the rest of his life. He gave her a Steinbeck novel to read to improve her English. Around that time, she became known as “Emy,” a simpler, shortened version of one of her middle names and more understandable to American ears.

Emy and Paul married in Madison on August 30, 1952, with Emy wearing a borrowed dress from Paul’s cousin, Etta Glee Leet. In the early years of their marriage, Emy was the main breadwinner for the family, using her training in chemistry to find employment in the laboratories at what was then Rayovac, then later with Dr. Beinert at the Enzyme Institute and ending up with Dr. Ganther at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the U.W. She enjoyed music, whether listening to the Madison Philharmonic Chorus at the Tudor Dinner concerts she attended for more than 50 years, or practicing recorder with her good friend and teacher, Linda Svanoe.

Paul and Emy’s marriage lasted until Paul’s death on September 25, 2009. At their 50th anniversary party in 2002, Paul said he didn’t think he had another 50 years left to spend with Emy, but if it were offered to him, he would gladly have taken it. Emy agreed. Paul & Emy loved each other. They were able to define—and redefine—that love on their own terms. They forged their marriage into an enduring accomplishment—raising children, hosting foreign students, building their lives and a cottage, and planting forests of trees on their rural Dane County properties.

Emy is survived by her children, Ann Bliss (Robert), Dan Gartzke (Tracey Schwalbe), and Alice Berlow (Sam); Emy’s “Wahlverwandschaft,” Qiujing Lisa Bu; and five grandchildren: Julia Gartzke, Mara Kilbourn (Cody), David Gartzke (Robin Dykema), Max Hammerlow f/k/a Berlow (Lily Hammerlow f/k/a Hammerling Duthoy) and Elijah Berlow; and also by Mark Krummel, Paul Krummel and Deshawn James; and one great-grandson, Zuko Lee Hammerlow, son of Max and Lily. She is also survived by her sister, Christa Carla Herbst, and niece, Karen Herbst, in Bremen; her cousin, Rena Wojanowski in Hamburg; two sisters-in-law, Johanna Von Mayr of Tucson, Arizona and Rosemary Gartzke of Iowa City, Iowa; her niece, Angelika Jacoby Hillebrand (Friedrich); and many other relatives in the United States and Germany.

Emy was preceded in death by her birth father, Wilhelm Caspary, in 1942; adoptive father, Erich Denker, in 1969; mother, Dora Denker, in 1989; husband, Paul, in 2009; sister, Hildegard Jacoby, in 2010; brother-in-law, Ruediger Herbst; and her two close friends from her early days in Madison, Elizabeth Beinert and Maria Burger.

One cannot tell much of Emy’s journeys in a short obituary, so we invite friends and family to join us at 2:00 on Sunday, October 20, 2024, at the First Unitarian Society Meeting House, 900 University Bay Drive, Madison for a remembrance. You may be surprised by what you hear, or enjoy re-hearing stories you already know, or thought you knew. Let us remember Emy’s life, well and most vigorously lived, and consider the optimism of her favorite saying of the last few years, “so far, so good.” Indeed, Emy, so far, so good.

We welcome you to share your memories here on Emy's tribute wall.

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