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Edith Gertrude (Pawlowski) Olbrich

Edith Gertrude (Pawlowski) Olbrich died peacefully at Generations Assisted Living and Wellness in Rathdrum, Idaho, on Feb. 27, 2018, at the age of 87.

Edith is survived by several sisters, nieces, and nephews in Germany. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rudy Olbrich; her son, Roland Olbrich; her father, Bernhard Pawlowski; her mother, Gertrude Pawlowski and brothers Wilfried and Sigfrid Pawlowski. Rudy died in 1991 from complications due to diabetes and kidney failure. Roland died from liver cancer and complications from diabetes on Aug. 16, 2011. Her father was Bernhard Joseph Pawlowski, born Nov. 7, 1907, in Danzig. He died on April 25, 1987, at Barton Hospital, El Dorado County, Calif. Her mother was Gertrude Margarete (Ahlsdorf) Pawlowski, born Sept. 9, 1908, in Danzig. She died in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 13, 2001.

Edith was born on Sept. 5, 1931, in the Free City of Danzig, Germany, which is now Gdansk, Poland. She graduated from public school and lived there during the Great Depression and World War II. She married Rudolf (Rudy) Josef Ulbrich in 1956. He moved from Czechoslovakia to Germany and became a German citizen and enlisted in the German Navy as a submarine machinist. Edith’s father was the captain of the submarine and invited him to his home for dinner, where he met Edith. During the war, they corresponded, and they married after the war.

Rudy later changed his name to Olbrich on July 4, 1958, and immigrated with his family to the United States in January of 1960, where he worked as a machinist and became a naturalized citizen. Edith was German by birth, and later became a Polish citizen after WWII, and later became a naturalized citizen of the United States in the 1960s. She immigrated to the U.S. in January, 1960, with her husband and son, and lived in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where Rudy had found a job. Edith retained her German citizenship and received a pension from the German Social Security program.

Edith worked as a seamstress in Akron, Ohio, and later as a fur repairer and finisher. She worked on a Bonis Fur machine, cut and drafted patterns for linings and did alterations in ladies apparel. She worked there from February 1960 to August 1962, until they moved to California, where Rudy had found employment with a manufacturing company. In the 1970s, Rudy accepted a job with Clare-Pendar, a switch manufacturer, in Post Falls, Idaho, and they moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Edith was a seamstress for Harvey’s Men’s Store and did alterations for many years. She was Roman Catholic.

A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 8, 2018, with a viewing at 9 a.m. at Yates Funeral Home - Coeur d’Alene Chapel, 744 N. Fourth St., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Edith’s life. Flowers and condolences may be sent to Yates Funeral Home.

Yates Funeral Home has been entrusted with the care of arrangements. Please visit Edith’s online memorial page and sign her guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.