Ilse Maria Ludewig

Ilse Maria Ludewig passed away peacefully in her bed at home on March 24, 2025. Born to German parents Else and Helmuth Roedler in Flushing, New York on February 6, 1930, Ilse Maria was raised in Germany only returning to the United States in 1950. She was proceeded in death by her husband of 29 years. George H. Ludewig. She is survived by her five children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Ilse Maria’s life revolved around family, friends and home. She resided for the last 61 years of her life at her beloved home on Blossom Hill in Lancaster where even at the very end of her life, on any day of the year, you could find her outside in her one-acre yard raking leaves, picking up sticks, or trimming bushes – whatever the season required. Still, the most enduring memory of my mother comes from our very first home.

Under a sweet gum tree, on the flagstone patio located just outside the back door of our first home, on any summer day, Ilse Maria could be found sitting on the green bench in front of a white card table on which rested her red Italian typewriter. As the languid hours of summer slowly passed, she tapped contentedly away composing long letters to family and friends in the old country -- single space on onion skin typing paper as this was “airmail” and weight--even fractional ounces -- cost dearly. This was the 1950’s and this is how one stayed in touch. Ilse Maria was adamant about never losing touch with family and friends. So strong was her gravitational pull that, in her cosmos, the rogue comet that only visited infrequently did not, could not, exist. Family is forever; friends are lifelong. She remained, for most of her life, a prodigiously prolific letter writer.

The other thing to know about the flagstone patio under the sweet gum tree is that it did not exist when the home was purchased. What did exist was a church being deconstructed not far from our house and many flagstones that were destined for the dump. Many evenings the family’s yellow Pontiac slowly crawled up the street with the front wheels barely touching the ground while the back end barely avoided scraping along with an open trunk filled with those very same flagstones. Arguably the Pontiac’s springs never recovered but Ilse Maria’s patio was built by her husband who loved her and needed her more than he could ever say. She was, if nothing else, determined.

Such determination served her well when, in the 1980’s, with the family business in serious peril, no one should underestimate her pure grit that helped drag that company over the end line to its current success.

Later in life, and after years of searching, Ilse Maria finally found her second life-long home -- a vacation lake house for family and friends. Her dream house ultimately exceeded all expectations – more by luck than forethought, possibly, but nonetheless true. Among its many unexpected charms was its location on the eastern shore of one of the lake’s many inlets. This allowed for that most quiet and peaceful time at the end of day when the reddening summer sun slowly, quietly settles over the western hills on the opposite shore as the lake’s little waves incessantly but gently lap against the bulkhead.

If the lake house lacked anything, it was a name. With her consent and blessing, we will now know her house on the lake as “Ilsesruhe” – Ilse’s peace – a fitting tribute to a mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend who has been a guiding light in our lives. And at the end, with her very long life, she was just “Oma” to us all.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend a funeral mass at St John Neumann Catholic Church, 601 E Delp Rd, Lancaster, PA 17601 on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM. A private interment will follow the service at Conestoga Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to: Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, LG Health Foundation, 2110 Harrisburg Pike, Suite, 205, Lancaster, PA 17601. To leave an online condolence, please visit: www.DeBordSnyder.com