Ahlke M. Schmidt passed away on February 27, 2018 at the age of 85 in her condo in Naples, Florida surrounded by her three children.
She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Dr. Kurt G. Schmidt, and their three children and spouses and seven grandchildren; Mark (Bethany Bunnell) Schmidt; Christine (Edward) Kuhlenkamp; and Immeke (Stephen Wald) Schmidt; and Andrea Lee, Immeke, Max, Maximilian, Walter, Marlon and Maya.
Ahlke is also survived by her brother, Renko Siefken, as well as many loving friends and extended family members. She is preceded in death by another brother, her two sisters, and her parents.
Ahlke was born on December 8, 1932 in a log cabin in Flatbush, Alberta, Canada, where her parents had moved to homestead. After two years, the family returned to Germany where Ahlke grew up in Goslar and later Aurich in Ostfriesland. Ahlke completed her studies for medical technology at Heidelberg University before she spent a year as an Au Pair in Paris, France. Ahlke’s curiosity and sense of adventure brought her back to North America when she accepted an opportunity to live and work in New York. She met Kurt in Covington, Kentucky and they were married in 1961. After a brief stay in Buffalo, New York, they eventually settled in Cincinnati, Ohio to raise their family. When Ahlke was in her mid 50’s, she attended the University of Cincinnati to study Classical Latin and Greek. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1988. In the early 1990s, Ahlke and Kurt purchased a condo in Naples, Florida and were snowbirds until moving to Naples full-time in 2014.
Ahlke was continually learning and had an incredible sense for beauty. She loved art and history, traveling and was an avid reader of all kinds of books. In the summer of 2017, she made one final trip abroad to Italy and to Marx, Germany, the place where both of her parents were born and where many relatives still live.
Ahlke rarely missed a sunset and amongst her favorite places to be was at Delnor-Wiggins State Park which is one of the last undeveloped barrier islands in Collier County, Florida. She walked miles on this beach and delighted in the multitude of birds and wildlife here for over twenty years. This was her sanctuary.
In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Friends of Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park. Donations can be made online at http://www.delnorwiggins.org/donate.htm (select donate, then select ‘add special instructions’ and write Ahlke M. Schmidt) or by check payable to “Friends of Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park” (Please note ‘In Memory of Ahlke Schmidt’ on the check), 11135 Gulf Shore Drive North; Naples, Florida 34108. (The Friends of Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.)