Goodbyes

We spent the past couple days in the Twin Cities, because my Aunt Natalie passed away on Valentine's Day. She had been struggling with pancreatic cancer for the past six years, so while it wasn't sudden, losing her still hurt. 

She was my dad's oldest sister, older than him by nine years, and pretty much out of the house and on her own by the time he was old enough to remember stories from his childhood. But since Carl and I have been kids, Natalie has always been an important family member. She referred to herself as the "Queen Mother" and she had four boys who we pretty much worshipped growing up since they were all older than us and lived in a bigger city. They always had foreign exchange students and other random guests staying at their big old house and Natalie and Gil always seemed to be heading off for another faraway adventure. Natalie was a force of nature, and one who showed me a lot of love, and I will miss her. 

On the positive side, as is often the case, her funeral and the following services served as a reunion for family that we hadn't seen in a long time. In addition to cousins and kids, we got to see Carl for the first time since he took off sailing across the Pacific! 

We spent most of our time at Natalie and Gil's house, but we also took a long walk around Lake of the Isles and visited Dinkytown, the commercial area by the University of Minnesota and the legendary (in our family at least) Grodnik building where my dad's uncle used to have a men's shop, that now houses the Loring Pasta Bar. We had breakfast at Al's, a tiny greasy spoon diner where the people waiting for seats are literally standing in a row behind the diner seats. The seven of us nearly filled up the seats. We also visited the graves of my grandparents, Jacob and Lillian, who are buried not far from where Natalie now rests. 

Natalie Jean Westreich 

  Visit Guest Book

Westreich, Natalie Jean Activist, adventurer, friend, wife, mother and grandmother, passed away on February 14th. Natalie graduated from Washburn High School in 1953, received a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Michigan and became a physical therapist. She married Dr. Gilbert Westreich in 1961; on January 22nd, 2011 Natalie and Gil celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, surrounded by their family. Natalie is survived by her four sons and their families: Larry (Lisa), Noah, Tali, and Ari; Jonathan (Grace), Linat and Shirite; Fred (Jane), Jacob, Madison, Lexie and Ellie, and Herman (Dani), Ziva and Ben. Natalie had two siblings who survive her: Carolyn of Jackson, NJ and Chuck of Elkhart, IN. Natalie is also survived by the multitude of people with whom she came in contact: exchange students from Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Israel, Russia, Serbia, Venezuela, Korea, Mexico and (m)any others who needed a place to stay in Natalie and Gil's Lowry Hill home. Natalie made several trips to Belarus to train health care providers and wrote a book on physical therapy for Russian physical therapists. Despite advice from her friends and family that her next project or trip or mission might be a bit complicated, Natalie always forged ahead. She regularly led women's hiking and canoe trips into the boundary waters, protested certain military actions, banded penguins in South Africa, and saw much of the world, generally as a houseguest rather than a tourist. One could not meet Natalie anywhere in the world without being engaged in conversation! She was an accomplished singer, and was especially fond of performing in Gilbert & Sullivan productions in college. She also performed in many community theater productions as well as singing in the choir of her beloved Temple Israel and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Natalie lived life on her own terms, and was determined to live life to the fullest. She demonstrated her steadfastness during Natalie and Gil's last foreign adventure, to Taiwan, in November 2011 and the family ski trip to Montana in December. Her wise counsel and unstoppable energy will be deeply missed. Funeral service THURSDAY (TODAY), 2:00 PM, TEMPLE ISRAEL, 2324 Emerson Ave., Mpls. Memorial contributions to the Scholarship Endowment Fund at www. templeisrael.com/donations.htm, or www.campunistar.org/donate/. SHIVA: 1779 Emerson Ave. S., Mpls (Thurs., Sat. and Sun. 7PM). Hodroff-Epstein 612-871-1234 www.hodroffepstein.com

Published in Star Tribune on February 16, 2012