Please help us celebrate the remarkable and joyous life of Ilse Stauffer by joining us for a virtual event on Sunday, July 11. There will be lots of time for sharing stories and memories. In the meantime, click on the heart to let us know you were here and to receive email updates. We look forward to gathering with you.
OBITUARY
Ilse Stauffer died peacefully on February 8, 2021 at the age of 86, after a stroke. Born in Wolfsburg, Germany, a fortune teller once told her she would marry a handsome foreigner, travel across the ocean, and have three children. Not one to leave her future to fate alone, she moved to Munich for a career as a simultaneous interpreter and teacher. When she met Tom, it was love at first sight and the prophecy was fulfilled. Tom whisked... see moreIlse Stauffer died peacefully on February 8, 2021 at the age of 86, after a stroke. Born in Wolfsburg, Germany, a fortune teller once told her she would marry a handsome foreigner, travel across the ocean, and have three children. Not one to leave her future to fate alone, she moved to Munich for a career as a simultaneous interpreter and teacher.
When she met Tom, it was love at first sight and the prophecy was fulfilled. Tom whisked her off to travel with the Qashqai nomads in Iran, and they continued to journey together the rest of their marriage. When not in Ecuador, Russia, Austria, Yemen, Oman, Germany, Norway, Turkey, or other corners of the globe, Tom and Ilse lived in the Boston area, where she earned her American bachelor’s degree at Harvard, taught German, directed buses through the narrow streets of Boston as a city guide, played the recorder, sang with her three children and in her church choir, and grew vegetables – including some famously good crops of corn. An adamant ambassador for her adopted country, she was committed to showing European family and friends that America was steeped in history, culture, and delicious fresh (not just frozen) food.
In 1989 she and Tom moved to Washington, DC, where she worked as the middle-school librarian at the Washington International School and was a decades-long volunteer at both Hillwood Estate Museum & Gardens and the Christ Child Opportunity Shop. A lover of languages, reading, decorative arts, and music of many genres, she was an outstanding cook (introducing her family and guests to Middle Eastern dishes before hummus and falafel became typical food court fare), as well as an elegant and welcoming hostess.
She was preceded in death by her beloved Tom and is survived by her children and their spouses, Barbara (Brian), Anne (Norton), and Michael (Jen); her grandsons Nathaniel and Nico; and an extensive network of family and friends in the U.S., Germany and around the world. In her last years, she found a home with lovingly supportive caregivers and staff at Forest Side Memory Care in D.C. She will be greatly missed by all, and a celebration of her life will be planned later. Please consider supporting The Washington Revels (revelsdc.org) or Christ Child Society (christchilddc.org) in her honor.
Memories of Ilse
written for the celebration of her life July 11, 2021
I'd hoped to read this at the wonderful event but didn't get my hand up in time. You'd think that by now I could manage zoom but - sigh - it seems not. It was really... moreMemories of Ilse
written for the celebration of her life July 11, 2021
I'd hoped to read this at the wonderful event but didn't get my hand up in time. You'd think that by now I could manage zoom but - sigh - it seems not. It was really special and wonderful to see you all!
We've been thinking with such gratitude and joy of all that Ilse meant to us—both she and Tom who began our friendship with the whole Stauffer family so long ago! We met thru Walter Hodge when we— in Cambridge and the Stauffers—in Belmont, both had young children. There were convivial dinners—and wonderful New Year's Eve celebrations. We all delighted in the Christmas Revels!.
How glad we were when the Stauffers moved to Washington shortly after we did. And settled nearby in Georgetown! What good luck! What is more, Revels miraculously established itself in DC enabling us to continue that happy tradition!
Our reveling could continue, we could become friends with their grownup children and we could, in addition, share enthusiasm for the Folger Consort. We subscribed together for years enjoying the aerial view and better acoustics from our perch up in rows P and Q center balcony. No small pleasure was always dinner beforehand exploring the culinary pleasure of that Capitol Hill neighborhood. Equal pleasure afterwards as Ilse offered her considered, not always positive but always welcome, critique of the singers!
We were often together for Christmas—first alternating houses, later just at the Stauffers. Ilse's Christmas baking—without which there could be no celebration— happily appeared in both locations!
We were ever grateful recipients of Ilse's enthusiasm, warmth and hospitality. But i want to mention another way she gave so generously of herself. In addition to her full professional life she somehow found time to lend her skills, her knowledge and not least, her charm, to several fortunate organizations—to Revels in various ways- spring and Christmas, docenting at Hillwood, sharing her expertise in china and other art works at the Christ Child Shop. At the Garden Fair at the National Arboretum for many years we were entirely dependent not just on her knowledge of the donated items but also her idea of what to charge for them! She herself, of course, was invaluable everywhere!
It has been mentioned that she felt she lived a lucky life —perhaps so, but we feel that, in fact, we were the lucky ones for having known her. We miss her.
Memories of Ilse
written for the celebration of her life July 11, 2021
I'd hoped to read this at the wonderful event but didn't get my hand up in time. You'd think that by now I could manage zoom but - sigh - it seems not. It was really special and wonderful to see you all!
We've been thinking with such gratitude and joy of all that Ilse meant to us—both she and Tom who began our friendship with the whole Stauffer family so long ago! We met thru Walter Hodge when we— in Cambridge and the Stauffers—in Belmont, both had young children. There were convivial dinners—and wonderful New Year's Eve celebrations. We all delighted in the Christmas Revels!.
How glad we were when the Stauffers moved to Washington shortly after we did. And settled nearby in Georgetown! What good luck! What is more, Revels miraculously established itself in DC enabling us to continue that happy tradition!
Our reveling could continue, we could become friends with their grownup children and we could, in addition, share enthusiasm for the Folger Consort. We subscribed together for years enjoying the aerial view and better acoustics from our perch up in rows P and Q center balcony. No small pleasure was always dinner beforehand exploring the culinary pleasure of that Capitol Hill neighborhood. Equal pleasure afterwards as Ilse offered her considered, not always positive but always welcome, critique of the singers!
We were often together for Christmas—first alternating houses, later just at the Stauffers. Ilse's Christmas baking—without which there could be no celebration— happily appeared in both locations!
We were ever grateful recipients of Ilse's enthusiasm, warmth and hospitality. But i want to mention another way she gave so generously of herself. In addition to her full professional life she somehow found time to lend her skills, her knowledge and not least, her charm, to several fortunate organizations—to Revels in various ways- spring and Christmas, docenting at Hillwood, sharing her expertise in china and other art works at the Christ Child Shop. At the Garden Fair at the National Arboretum for many years we were entirely dependent not just on her knowledge of the donated items but also her idea of what to charge for them! She herself, of course, was invaluable everywhere!
It has been mentioned that she felt she lived a lucky life —perhaps so, but we feel that, in fact, we were the lucky ones for having known her. We miss her. less