Anna Margot Ridder, 90, of Klemme, IA, went to her eternal rest on June 22, 2022 at RCB in Belmond.
Margot was born on June 14, 1932, in Weiterode, Germany, shortly before the outbreak of WWII. She was the third of four children of Pauline and Johannes Hesse. She spent her childhood years amid the chaos of war and was forced to join the Hitler Youth at age 5, she and her classmates had to perform long hours of menial field labor for the war effort. When she was barely 17, she met a handsome American GI who was stationed near her hometown. She and Roger Ridder were married after a whirlwind romance and spent the next 60 years together. They had five children, 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. They spent the first 15 years of their married life in Bebra, Germany, then moved their family to America and settled in Klemme, Roger’s hometown.
Margot was an enterprising, gregarious woman who was able to thrive in any environment. She worked hard to provide for her family and become an asset to her community. She and Roger bought a farm where they grew corn and soybeans, and after working at the Klemme Locker for a number of years, she bought the building next door and opened her own grocery store. Throughout the years, she regularly returned to Germany to nourish her roots and stay connected with her family and friends. Our mom and Oma was a people person, and to her strangers were just friends she hadn’t met yet. She was a strong-willed woman with a heart of gold who made friends wherever she went. She knew how to have a good time and loved nothing more than to celebrate surrounded by all her family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband Roger, her parents Lina and Hans Hesse, her parents-in-law Lee and Dolores Ridder, her brother Heinrich, who fell in Russia in 1942, her sisters Elise and Irma, her brothers-in-law Heinz and Herwig and her nephew Dieter.
Left to mourn and cherish her memory are her children Monica (Paul) Kruse, Randy (Patt) Ridder, Sylvia Shell, Gloria Bittner and Sonja (Randy Bannister) Ridder, her grandchildren Tanya Kruse, Ryan (Karrie) Bonner, Derek (Nicole) Kruse, Shaun (Heather) Bonner, Lisa Ridder, Justin (Esther) Kruse, Veronica Coe, Chris (Amber) Pals, Nick (Laura) Shell and Samantha (Cory Brown) Pals, and many great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
There will be a public visitation at the Klemme Methodist Church on Sunday, July 10, from 5-7 PM, with the public funeral celebrated at the same venue on Monday, July 11 at 10:30 am. Andrews Funeral Home Klemme is handling funeral arrangements.
Memorials may be given in Margot’s name to the Klemme United Methodist Church, the family or the donor’s choice.
Margot’s funeral will be live streamed on the Andrews Funeral Homes Facebook page at 10:30 AM, Monday. Just LIKE the page to view.
Andrews Funeral Home, Klemme, IA.
www.amdrewsfuneralhomeandlforal.com
641-587-2510.
