Whittlesey, Gerda Kurschner

Gerda Helene Kurschner Whittlesey left this good earth on Friday, September 16, 2016. She was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1921, coming to Detroit, MI in 1936 when her parents made the decision to flee Germany.

Gerda married her beloved Jack, and they lived in Michigan until 1999 when they moved to Blacksburg VA to live closer to family.

Gerda was predeceased by her parents, Hermann and Louise Kurschner, her brother Hermann, and her husband Jack. She leaves behind her twins, daughter Karolyn Givens (Clarence) of Blacksburg and son Michael (Judy) of Windsor, CT, and son John of Detroit, MI, grandchildren Kristin, David and Emily Givens, Nathan Whittlesey, and six great grandchildren, Hanna, Zoe, Maggie, India, Shea and Barlow, and sister in-law Ellen Kurschner, and numerous Kurschner and Whittlesey nieces and nephews.

Gerda was a generous person, and also appreciative, please and thank you being a way of life for her. She was a woman of strength generated by life experiences. Family always was important to her, she loved music and art, and she had a keen sense of humor. Her family wishes to thank everyone at Radford Health and Rehab for their loving care over the past 10 Years, and Good Samaritan Hospice who supported her over the last months of her life.

Gerda’s ashes along with Jack’s will be taken to Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan for a family memorial gathering in the spring. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.