Heike Marlies Schade, neé Burbach, died peacefully on January 8 at home in Cincinnati, Ohio, of a long-term degenerative neurological condition.
Heike was born to Martha and Heinz Burbach in Hahnstätten, Germany, on May 29, 1947, and was schooled in Oberhausen prior to enrolling at the University of Marburg in 1967, from which she graduated with an M.A. in both German and American Studies in 1972. It was during this period of studies that she met and
married Richard E. Schade, an exchange student from UNH. The couple moved to the United States, eventually settling in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she became a much admired high-school teacher of German for many years, as well as teaching NH’s best at the Advanced Studies Program, St. Paul’s School, Concord, during summers. Heike and Richard built a seasonal home in the Sugar Hill district of Hopkinton.
Heike was a caring friend, a loving wife and mother. Her eyes sparkled, her gait was ever energetic, her spirit and smile engaging. She took great pride in her teaching.
Little wonder that her students in Ohio and New Hampshire were caught up by her spontaneity and enthusiasm for the language, song and artistic culture of Germany.
She took up pottery in the US and became a studio potter, creating delicate one-of-a-kind bowls and exquisitely trimmed vases as well as useful household wares. Her German-style baked goods were locally legendary. Fascinated by the subtle beauties of wool, she wove material for the family and also designed and knotted rugs in the Rya tradition, her first one inspired by New Hampshire’s bright Fall foliage. She loved to sing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy.”
Heike and her husband, along with their daughters Silke and Kristin, often traveled to Germany for extended stays. She and Richard explored Sweden – a trip for which Heike learned Swedish, Italy – again, she learning the language, and France – the language of which she had been taught as a girl. Her appreciation of the United States centered on Cincinnati’s rich cultural scene, on the Southwest, but especially on New Hampshire. Heike hiked with her daughters and husband on Mt. Kearsarge, Cardigan, Chocorua and elsewhere in the White Mountains. She especially enjoyed Lake Sunapee for kayaking and swimming with the family, Kittery Point Beach, likewise, and took long walks on woodland paths in the area around their rural summer place, a home graced by a garden of her design and full of lilies. To top it all off, she became an avid and happy ice skater.
Heike is survived by her husband Richard and their daughters Silke Schade of Vancouver, B.C., and Kristin Annen of San Jose, California, by her sisters Ulrike Burbach of Düsseldorf and Dietlind Meinerz of Essen, Germany, as well as three grandchildren and by the extended Schade family of greater New England.
A memorial service for family and friends is planned for the Old Chapel on the grounds of St. Paul’s School, Concord, followed by burial at the School’s Cemetery. – Contributions in her memory may be made to the Advanced Studies Program, 325 Pleasant Street, Concord, NH 03301.
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