Margot Wohrle, 85, of North Judson went home to be with the Lord on Oct 25, 2020. Margot was born to her parents Emil and Berta (Ellinger) Schwarzenbach, on May 26, 1935 in their home in Meilen, Switzerland.
On Jan 26, 1956, Margot married Emil Wohrle, in Aischfeld, Germany. One week after marriage, with $100 in their pocket, Emil and Margot traveled by boat for 4 ½ days to Ellis Island, NY and then another day by train, to start their new life in Chicago, IL, living with an uncle and aunt who sponsored them at the time and made coming to the US possible. Neither Emil nor Margot spoke a word of English upon coming to the US, and were 26 & 21 yrs old. When asked if she was scared, Margot replied, “yes, it was scary….but when you’re young you do what you need to do even if it’s scary.” And that proved to be how Margot lived the rest of her life.
After having been in the US only a couple of months, Emil registered for the draft and was drafted into the US Army and sent back to Germany to serve a 4 year tour while Margot was left alone in Chicago. Margot started a job as a file clerk in an office and learned most of her English while working there reading letters and filing papers. Two years later, Margot moved to Germany to live with Emil on the army base while he finished his tour. Margot began the process a year after arriving in the US and five years after moving to the US, Margot became a US citizen.
In 1960, Emil and Margot, moved back to Chicago where they lived for the next 13 years and started their family, before relocating to a farm in San Pierre, IN in 1973. In 2002, Margot moved to North Judson, IN where she remained until her passing.
Margot is survived by three daughters: Donna Lind (Greg) of Valparaiso, IN; Sue Packer (Lonnie) of North Liberty, IN; and Debby Bailey (Mark) of North Judson, IN.
She is also survived by 13 grandchildren; Sarah Osowski (Mike), Hannah, & Kyle Fingerhut (Rachel), John Danford & Julie Marsh (Brad), and Dylan Bailey (Rebecca), Emily Max (Graham), Rusana Rush (Matt), Levi Bailey, Laura Schleg (Dallas), Dalton Bailey (JoJo), Madison Bailey & Alex Bailey, and 17 great-grandchildren; Brenden, Connor, Brady Danford, Eli, Sawyer, Paisley, Sierra Marsh, Emma, Owen, Aden Osowski, Hudson, Lennon, Brooks Max, Cord, Rhett Schleg, Addison Bailey & Luke Bailey.
Margot is also survived by a sister, Monica Gonzalez of Friendswood, Texas and two brothers, Rolf and Max both of Switzerland.
Margot was preceded in death by her parents, one brother; Emil, on Jan 1st, 1943 and her husband, Emil; on July 23rd, 1991.
Margot was immensely proud of her family and was the happiest when she was surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was very involved in all the lives of her grandchildren as they grew up in nearly every aspect and even as she aged and her health declined, continued that closeness and bond with her great grandchildren. All who knew Margot knew her to be a lover of the outdoors As a child growing up in Switzerland, she enjoyed skiing in the Alps, ice skating, swimming, bike riding and hiking. Margot had a “green thumb” and as an adult she could always be found working in the many many flower gardens in her yard and continued her love for bike riding, walking and the outdoors. Although Margot was raised Lutheran and attended church much of her younger life, she put her faith and trust in Christ in 1997 and enjoyed growing and learning through numerous Bible Studies and church services over the years. She attended Calvary Baptist Church since 2011.
Soon after moving to San Pierre, Margot was employed at the San Pierre Elevator for 24 yrs as a secretary/bookkeeper and according to her boss, “because of Margot’s amount of knowledge and ability to learn everything so quickly”, became the assistant manager. She was also employed as an office clerk at Thermo Products, and as a Statistician for the USDA for a short time. Until early 2019, at age 84, Margot still enjoyed working from her home doing bookkeeping and computer work for Bailey’s Discount Center. She was also a Master Gardner and enjoyed weekly aerobics.
Visitation will be at Calvary Baptist Church, Knox, IN on Monday, Nov 2nd, 2020 at 11 am (cst). A Celebration of Life Service will start at 12 pm (cst) also at Calvary Baptist Church, followed by a short graveside burial in San Pierre.
All donations can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
JDRF
PO BOX 37920
Boone, IA 50037-0920
In the memo line: “4195, Indianapolis”
