Waltraud Brigitte Kueppers

Waltraud Brigitte Kueppers, born to Gerhard Kueppers and Martha Anna Lorenz on April 20, 1944 in Gross Neuendorf, Schlessien, Germany, passed away suddenly and peacefully on December 21, 2015 in Bountiful, Utah.  She was the eldest of 5 children and grew up in the challenging times of post-war Germany.  She immigrated to Washington, D.C. in November 1961 to live with her aunt.  Her family, still living in refugee housing, wanted their eldest daughter to have a better life with more opportunity.  She studied and apprenticed in Germany and worked in the U.S. as a licensed cosmetician with several special clients, regularly being picked up by limousine.  In January 1965, she was married in Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, D.C. to her first husband, Carlos Vazquez (a Cuban immigrant) for 34 years.  In addition to cutting hair, she loved being a homemaker and they soon welcomed their only child, Suzanne, into their lives. There was nothing more important to her then caring for her family and she cherished every family moment.
Waltraud was a kind and loving woman and in these family years she especially loved music, dancing, drives in the country, gardening, sewing, knitting, cooking, reading, working on Christmas crafts, her profession, and her pets. Waltraud loved her dogs and spent few years of her adult life without one by her side. Waltraud very much enjoyed traveling with her family and visited many places in Europe and Central America.  She made time to regularly go back to Germany to spend time with her parents and siblings.  She was also proud to be able to bring her daughter with her on her trips and have her know her German family and heritage.
Waltraud moved to Utah in 2001 to be near her daughter and son-in-law.  In Utah, she spent many hours walking and looking at the mountains and also honed her love for ice cream! She always took the time to make others feel special. She found the beauty in people and never missed a chance to point this out, even to complete strangers.  She had immense faith in Jesus and took complete comfort in that she would be her families' guardian Angel alongside her mother, Martha, from the never-ending pine forests in Heaven.
For most of the past decade, Waltraud fought with dignity through the middle stages of Alzheimers but was spared having to endure the more debilitating later stages.  She was singing and happy through her last day. As the disease took more of memory, her personality continued to light up rooms where she loved dressing up in jewelry and hats, laughing with ease, and singing at any opportunity.  Also, having been a makeup artist, she always noticed her daughter's shade of lipstick or lack thereof.  She will always be very much loved, remembered and deeply missed.  Surviving her are her daughter, Suzanne Vazquez Walker, her son in law Phil, and her two grandchildren whom she loved without compare.

Prayers are welcome.
Services are private.