I didn't know this woman, and now it's too late. Whoever wrote her funeral notice did a masterful job to make me feel the regret.
Danielson,
Theodora M. (Teddy) Teddy passed away peacefully on Sunday the 28th of
December, at her home as was her wish and plan. Sons Ethan and Damon
were at her side and many of her friends and admirers had an
opportunity to say their good-byes. She was pre-deceased by her
parents, Johann Paul and Bertha Maria Skobel (Fisher), and son, Eckart
Herter, as well as three husbands and numerous long-lived cats. She led
a full life. As an awarded University of Minnesota bio-pharmacological
scientist, her ground-breaking research into neuro-transmitters helped
to create a new class of beta-blockers that improved the lives of
millions.
She loved teaching her graduate and medical students and tormented them for over 25 years in the labs at Millard Hall. Mother was conceived in what is now Namibia, her family moved back to their native Germany prior to her birth. World War II ended mother's medical and musical studies.
She spent much of the war in bomb shelters and hiding in abandoned coal or salt mines, when she had resorted to stealing food off of Russian military trucks to feed her infant son Eckart and went thru a winter without shoes. Her family lost almost every material good they had during the war.
Theodora lost two husbands, both doctors, to the war and struggled raising her young son as a single woman in post-war east-Germany. In 1951, she escaped from East Germany by walking thru a mine field with young Eckart and was able to get a visa to come to the United States in 1953. With less than $100 in her pocket and no English language skills, she found a job as seamstress making underwear for Munsingwear and lived in a one-room apartment at a boarding house where she washed the guest's dishes to pay the rent. A friend soon introduced her to a lab technician job at the U of M. She started there by cleaning rat cages and feeding monkeys, and from there worked her way to her research position as a scientist.
In 1955, Theodora met our father Robert F. Danielson, and they soon had two sons, and while the marriage was short-lived, she was happy to be doing what she did best, which was to be a mother. She raised her three boys so that they understood how to raise their own families. She supported the family by working additional jobs thru most nights as a medical illustrator and graphic designer. She was able to purchase a beautiful home for her family and her summer gardens are a legend in the neighborhood to her last summer.
Theodora loved classical music, and trained seriously in her youth as a pianist. She was often invited to play for friends and at formal occasions. Every waking hour in her house found strains of Beethoven, Bach, and especially Chopin and Grieg issuing from her stereo. In her retirement, she became a passionate designer and creator of stained-glass, and she went on to teach many others the craft. Her windows and artifacts are found in numerous homes around the neighborhood and region.
Mom had an amazing life full of much joy, but incredible adversity. Through all of the troubled times our mother never once spoke of life as though she were a victim. Mom just prevailed and made the best of every situation she faced. This was the only way she knew how to approach life, and the way she believed in living.
Teddy is survived by sons, Ethan of Devon England and Damon of Pebble Beach, California; grandchildren, Kristina Herter of Phoenix, Erik Herter of New Hampshire, Jessic and Alice Danielson of Devon, England, Dylan and Teddy Danielson of Pebble Beach; and niece, Ika Skobel of Seeson, Germany. In lieu of flowers or donations, Mom would be pleased if you add to your savings account, or pay down any credit card debt you may be carrying. She was a German after all. She rests in peace.
