Obituary: Marie (Ingalls) Sauerwald

Marie Catherine (Ingalls) Sauerwald (eldest child of Frederick and Johanna Ingalls) was born May 7, 1923 in Whitehall, New York, and died Jan. 9, 2019 in Brighton, Michigan. Marie is predeceased by her two brothers, Frederick and Leroy Ingalls.

Marie and her husband, John Joseph Sauerwald, of Queens, New York, were married on Dec. 28, 1946, in Whitehall, New York. Until John’s death in 2002, they were an inseparable couple deeply in love and role models for their children: Mary Jo (Sauerwald) & Carl Round of Connecticut, John & Peggy Sauerwald of Michigan, and Erich and Barbara Sauerwald of California. Although raised in Whitehall, after her marriage she was a resident of Albany, Nassau, Queens, Levittown, Glens Falls, West Sand Lake, Baldwinsville, Clifton Park, and Bolton Landing in New York; Dania and Naples, Florida; and Brighton, Michigan. In her later years, she spent most of her time in Naples, Bolton Landing, and Brighton.

Marie and John loved to explore the world and traveled to Bahamas, Anguilla, and other Caribbean islands, Saipan, Guam, Japan and Hong Kong in the Far East, Majorca, Austria, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, England, Ireland in Europe, Canada, and Mexico in their explorations. Marie enjoyed her long relationships with friends and they frequently visited them throughout the United States in their travels.

Her grandchildren, Jennifer Round, Jonathan Round, Alison (Round) Russell (Husband Jesse), Thea (Sauerwald) Dosanjh (Husband Raminder) Christian Sauerwald, Gretchen (Sauerwald) Little (Husband Eric ), and Cody Sauerwald, were the center of her life. They could always count on their grandparents to be with them for special occasions and enjoyed unique vacation time with them in Florida and Bolton Landing. And Marie had the greatest joy of knowing and spending time with her great grandchildren; Orlando and Chase Little, Ronan and Sylvie Dosanjh, Hope Russell, and celebrated the birth of her most recent great-grandchild, Adeline Marie Sauerwald-Diaz.

Her niece Ann (Sauerwald) Potter and nephew Richard Sauerwald were a part of her extended family. She also had 9 nieces and nephews, children of her brother, Fredrick; Rebecca (Ingalls) Wickham, Carol (Ingalls) Matheny, Joyce (Ingalls) Fetty, Frederick Ingalls, Edward Ingalls, LeeAnne (Ingalls) Shepard, Laura Ingalls, Kathy (Ingalls) Tanner, and David Ingalls As the family expanded, Marie became the Grand Aunt of 19 grandnieces and nephews.

Marie was a devoted communicant of Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing, New York for 40 years. Throughout her life she was active in organizations supporting her church, community and family (a wonderful leader and focused cookie drive organizer for Girl Scouts of America, efficient in various roles in PTA and neighborhood associations such as the Clifton Park Women’s Club and Home Bureau) and still managed to enjoy bowling, golf, skiing, sailing, camping. For years prior to moving to Bolton Landing she could be found in summer, with John, anchored on their sailboat in a quiet cove on Lake George or camping on one of the Lake George Islands or Rhode Island beaches.

Above all, Marie was a wonderful, loving wife and mother, a woman of humor, integrity, wisdom, and patience who enjoyed her life to its fullest. A memorial service will be held for Marie this summer when her family can again get together to share their memories and a lifetime of stories.