Gabrielle Strunk passed away peacefully on January 5, 2024 in Turlock, California. She was 97 years old.
Gabrielle was born on July 19, 1926 in Leipzig, Germany to parents Frederick and Margarete Schumann. Growing up in Leipzig, Gabrielle enjoyed a charmed and cultured childhood. As the only child of a newspaper publisher, she was exposed to many interesting people, events and activities.
She attended an all-girls school where she learned French, English and Latin. With the onset of World War Il, Gabrielle’s world crumbled. As a teenager, she and her classmates were removed from their homes and forced to live and work on farms across Germany; stabilizing the nation’s food supply. Gabrielle spent long days working on the farm and saw her parents only occasionally. Gabrielle spent the remaining war years in Leipzig, hunkered down with her parents as the city was bombed by Allied forces.
In the immediate aftermath of Germany’s defeat, American soldiers occupied Leipzig. Speaking fluent English, Gabrielle befriended the Americans assigned to the Leipzig Post Office. After several months, control of Leipzig was transferred to the Soviet Zone, later to be known as East Germany. Fearing for her safety in the Soviet Zone, Gabrielle decided to leave Leipzig. Carrying only a small briefcase, Gabrielle said goodbye to her parents and made her way to the Post Office. With the help of her remaining solider friends, she was hidden under a blanket in an American supply truck and escaped across the border into West Germany.
Gabrielle settled in the Frankfurt area and spent the next four years working for the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a multi-lingual liaison interpreter in communications.
In 1949 Gabrielle immigrated to the United States and settled in Seattle, Washington where she started her career in the radio broadcasting industry. Gabrielle spent 5 years as the traffic manager and assistant program director for Seattle Radio Station KAYO. Gabrielle would later become the Media Director for Pacific National Advertising. While in Seattle, Gabrielle met and married Attorney James Molthan. Gabrielle and James enjoyed a happy, active life together until his untimely death in 1965.
Several years later, while on the beach in Mazatlan, Mexico, Gabrielle met Rudy Strunk of Turlock, Ca. Gabrielle and Rudy married in 1971 and settled in Turlock where Gabrielle made new friends and enjoyed her new life being stepmother to Rudy’s three children, Kathy, Kurt and Kenny. Gabrielle and Rudy were very active in the Turlock business community, traveling and socializing with many friends and associates.
In her later years, Gabrielle continued to travel, taking many extended solo trips well into her eighties. Gabrielle loved to bake and garden and could be found most days taking her beloved Dachshund for walks around her nearby park.
Gabrielle was direct and outspoken; having feared for her life as a teenager she did not fear speaking her mind asan adult.
Gabrielle lived 97 extraordinary years. Her high standards, love of animals, and curiosity about the world we live in motivated and inspired those around her.
