Ilse Hochhalter, 93, formerly of High Hill, died Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at Harton Senior Living in Warrenton. She suffered from dementia in her last few years, but was otherwise healthy and finally succumbed to her advanced years.
Ilse was born in Hamburg, Germany on October 14, 1930, the only child of the late Hugo & Ella (Heidelmann) Leichsenring. She married Ferdinand Hochhalter on May 21, 1950 in Hamburg, Germany. Ferdinand was born in North Dakota on a homestead on the prairie to immigrant parents who had made their way to the United States from Odessa, Russia (now Ukraine). But they were Germans whose ancestors had emigrated to Russia from Germany and retained the German language and culture. So Ferdinand was drawn to the German home country and found a German wife there. He brought this city girl to rural Missouri, which was quite a culture shock for her. But she persevered and made a life for herself and her family in a foreign country and a foreign culture.
When Ferdinand died in 1975, she continued to live in High Hill for a total of 65 years in the same old house in which she and Ferdinand had raised their family and which Ferdinand had upgraded with indoor plumbing and many other remodeling projects using his woodworking skills.
Ilse's interest in the history of the German settlement of the state of Missouri and her knowledge of the German language led her to work as a tourist assistant at the Deutschheim State Historic Site in Hermann. After her retirement there, she volunteered weekly at the Gasconade County Archive and Record Center in Hermann, working with German papers and records. It gave her pleasure and satisfaction that her knowledge of the German language and culture could be useful and was appreciated.
Ilse is survived by her two sons, Rainer Hochhalter and Michael Hochhalter; four grandchildren, Paul Hochhalter, Rebecca Larner, Anni Hochhalter and Elise Hochhalter; and two great grandchildren, Taylor Larner and Tori Larner.
Memorial services will be held on Jan. 14 at St. John's United Church of Christ in High Hill. Interment will be at Augusta Cemetery next to her husband.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any remembrances in honor of Ilse be sent to St John's United Church of Christ, 202 Spruce St, High Hill, MO 63350. Arrangements were under the direction of Toedtmann & Grosse Funeral Home, Hermann.
