Obituary of Katharina Michels

Katharina Michels (born Muschko) 100 of Manchester passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, March 17, 2023.

Katharina was born on a farm in Malthern, Czechoslovakia (known today as Slovakia) in 1923. She grew up near the High Tatra Mountains in a quaint village of about 600 people with charming traditions and culture. She left the village at 18 years old to work in Rostock, Germany. She worked at a flower shop and in their 9 greenhouses and fields for 10 years. During that time, she met the love of her life, Hans Michels, at a big band dance hall. They married and moved to Neuss am Rhine in Germany where they had a daughter, Gabriele. Later they moved to the United States and settled in Manchester, CT. Katharina and Hans were happily married for 44 years, until Hans predeceased her in 1995.

Katharina was a small but strong woman, who instinctively knew how to thrive everywhere she lived. Her engaging personality won her many friends. She loved to laugh. She was told she had a “gift for living”.

Katharina was an excellent cook and she excelled in the traditional role of a housewife, devoted to her family. She was also very skilled in knitting and crocheting. She loved dancing with her husband, spending time with her daughter, reading, and walking half an hour daily. She also assisted her daughter with several of her entrepreneurial ventures. She will be sorely missed.

Katharina is survived by her daughter, Gabriele Michels; her great niece Peggy and Frances, wife of nephew Ralf Michels who predeceased her; niece Sylvia Wolgast, nephew Reinhold Tinsz, and niece Monika Fromter; nephew Frank Muschko and niece Annette Metzmeier; cousins Werner Laser and Guenther Laser; cousins Hans Weiss and John Weiss; and many other family members in Europe.

Friends are invited to the John F. Tierney Funeral Home, 219 West Center St., Manchester for a viewing on Friday March 24, 2023, 5pm-7pm and a funeral service at John F. Tierney Funeral Home on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., followed by burial in East Cemetery, Manchester.

Memorial contributions to assist with funeral expenses may be sent to: Gabriele Michels c/o John F. Tierney Funeral Home, Inc., 219 West Center St., Manchester, CT 06040. For online condolences, please visit www.tierneyfuneralhome.com.