Christel Faulhaber, residing in Roswell, Ga., and a former 50-year resident of Mahopac, N.Y. passed away peacefully on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, at the age of 92, after a long journey with Alzheimer’s. She was born in East Prussia, Germany on Sept. 26, 1932, the daughter of Georg and Martha (Swars) Jurgeleit.
Christel was educated in Germany, completed business school as an apprentice and in 1952 landed a position at a firm in Lübeck where she worked until 1954. She then moved to Wolfach, Germany to live with her sister Waltraut and quickly got a job as a secretary. She enjoyed life there but decided to immigrate to the United States in December 1955, where her whole family eventually ended up.
She met her husband Karl Faulhaber through mutual friends, they fell in love and married on Oct. 1, 1960. She officially became a United States citizen on July 18, 1961. Christel worked at McGraw-Hill Publishing for a time but gave it up to be a full-time homemaker. They moved to Ridgewood, Queens in a mostly German neighborhood and after Ingrid and Eric were born, decided they needed more space and moved the family to Mahopac, N.Y. in 1971. They bought a house right on Upper Teakettle Spout Lake with plenty of room for kids and a dog. Christel was an active member of St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., where she volunteered on many committees, social events and fundraisers.
She is predeceased by her husband Karl, who passed away Dec. 16, 2002 and also by her brother Gerhard and sisters Waltraut, Erika and Brunhilde. She is survived by her daughter, Ingrid Duffelmeyer, with husband Edward (Danbury, Conn.), her son, Eric Faulhaber with wife Tamar (Alpharetta, Ga.), her sister Hannelore Jurgeleit (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and three grandchildren: Jonathan, Danielle, and Elisabeth.
Services have concluded. Christel was laid to rest at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Putnam Valley, N.Y.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers that a donation be made to the Alzheimer’s Association in Christel’s honor.
