Elfriede Winiker

1937 - 2025

Anna Henriette Elfriede Eggert Winiker (Elfriede) died peacefully, surrounded by her family, on November 16, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was 88 years old.

She was born on May 26, 1937 in Kindlebrück Germany, located in the state of Thuringia, to her parents Karl August Ernst Eggert and Charlotte Keiser Eggert. In 1949, at the age of 12, she, her mother, and her two younger brothers, Günter and Lothar, fled the former German Democratic Republic to be reunited with their father in the northern German city of Hamburg.

With a keen intellect, an excellent command of the English language and a longstanding interest in world affairs, Elfriede apprenticed with an international import-export firm in Frankfurt, Germany. In the early 1960's she met her future husband St. Clair Frederick "Fred" Winiker of Virginia, who was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. In 1963, she immigrated to the United States where she and Fred were married in Danville, Virginia. Soon thereafter, they settled in Charlotte, North Carolina where they raised two children and welcomed five grandchildren.

In Charlotte, Elfriede worked for Eastern Airlines and later a subsidiary of Daimler Benz. She later founded her own small business performing technical interpreting and translating for a number of German manufacturing and medical firms. She was an avid member of the Carolina Association of Translators and Interpreters (CATI), served on the board of the Alexander Children's Home, and was an active member of the German American Club.

In 1982, she proudly became a naturalized United States Citizen. An avid reader, gardener, and accomplished cook, Elfriede found joy in simple pleasures and in sharing them with the people she loved. Her strength, resilience, and gentle nature shaped every chapter of her life, from her earliest memories of wartime Germany to her final years surrounded by family in Charlotte.

She is survived by her son, St. Clair Frederick (Rick) Winiker, III, his wife, Meredith Freeman Winiker, his children Peter August (Gus), Clara Antoinette (Toni), and Lila Davis (Freddy); and by her daughter Kathryn Winiker Martin, her husband George Edgar (Tripp) Martin, III, and their daughters Elizabeth St. Clair and Audrey Kathryn. She is preceded in death by her husband, Fred, and her brother, Lothar.

A visitation with the family will be held on Saturday, December 27, 2025 between 3 and 4:30 p.m. at the Mahlon Adams Pavilion in Freedom Park - 2435 Cumberland Ave.

Elfriede always loved America as a proud nation of immigrants and instilled those values in her family. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Carolina Refugee Resettlement Agency (carolinarefugee.org).