Obituary of Ricarda C Froehlich

Ricarda Froehlich, 83 years old, died peacefully at Acorn Glen in Princeton on Sunday, March 29. She was born in Allenstein, East Prussia (today Olsztyn, Poland), the first child of the late Richard Lotzin and his wife, Hilde Bransky, on August 30, 1936. She grew up in Loerrach near the Swiss border where she attended the Hebel-Gymnasium and went on to study classical languages and literature (Greek and Latin) at the universities of Tuebingen, Hamburg, and Vienna. In 1961, she married Karlfried Froehlich and went with him to to the U.S. where they lived in Madison, NJ. In 1968, the family moved to Princeton. Ricarda tutored numerous graduate students in German and Latin. Through Redeemer Lutheran Church in Trenton she participated in the work of the Trenton soup kitchen. Later, she became a long-time member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Princeton Junction. She also served for many years as a choir mother at Trinity Church, and regularly attended the Early Birds bible study group at Nassau Presbyterian Church. In 2010 the Froehlichs moved to the Princeton Windrows community where Ricarda spent her last years. Her mother had been a concert pianist, and Ricarda loved music. She sang in several church choirs and vocal ensembles over the years and was a faithful member of the Princeton Recorder Society. She also loved plants and flowers, and found great joy in tending her garden. She was gifted at arts and crafts, working especially with fabrics and yarns and exceptionally skilled at the spinning wheel. Ricarda will be fondly remembered by a large circle of friends in the U.S. and abroad with whom she engaged in an extensive correspondence. She is survived by her husband and three children, Johanna Froehlich Swartzentruber of Princeton, Eberhard Froehlich of Montreal, and Daniel Froehlich of Poulsbo, WA, and two grandchildren, Anna Baroud of Berlin and Clara Swartzentruber of Princeton. A private funeral service will be held on April 1 with burial at Princeton Cemetery immediately following. A memorial celebration will be scheduled later this year. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 177 Princeton-Hightstown Road, Princeton Junction, NJ 08550.