Geraldine "Gerri" Mae Ehrlich

Gerri passed away on January 13, 2025, at Windsong in Greeley after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

Gerri was born May 29, 1936, to John Peter Ehrlich Jr. and Elsie Knaus in Fort Collins. They were Germans from Russia immigrants. Gerri attended school in Fort Collins and Windsor where she graduated in 1954.

Gerri married her high school sweetheart, Dick Ochsner, on November 14, 1954, in Windsor. The day after their wedding, they drove 33 hours to North Carolina where Dick was stationed in the army.

On November 24th, 1955, on Thanksgiving Day, they welcomed their baby daughter, Denise into the world. Five years later on Christmas Day they had a son, Lonnie.

Gerri was a true helper for Dick by working on the farm helping him in any way she could. She drove trucks during silage and beet harvest, cooked meals, took care of her yard and garden, raised her 2 children and took great pride in keeping her house spotless.
Over the years, Gerri worked at the Windsor Telephone Company, as an aide at Windsor Nursing Home, a part-time rural mail delivery person and was a teller at the Bank of Windsor for 10 years.

She was an active member of Bethel Lutheran church where she belonged to bible study, taught Sunday school, and sang in choir. She truly had a servant heart and helped at the church in any way she could. She belonged to CSE and was a 50-gallon blood and platelet donor at NCMC hospital in Greeley. She also volunteered at the Windsor Food Bank.

Dick and Gerri loved dutch-hopping and went to many dances over the years. They also enjoyed many motorcycle trips with friends, enjoyed rides in their corvette and going to corvette shows.

Gerri was an excellent cook and cooked all her families favorite German dishes. She was also known as the angel food cake queen. Every summer for more than 30 years she baked 75-100 angel food cakes for the Bethel Lutheran Church bake sale on Labor Day and helped make noodles for sale as well.

Gerri's greatest love was her family. She was always there to help her kids with whatever they needed, and she loved spending time with her grandkids. She was truly an amazing Grandma! Dick and Gerri never missed a concert, play, or sporting event of the grandkids.
Gerri loved gardening, especially caring for her roses. She also helped her daughter for 27 years at her craft shows.

The awful disease of Alzheimer's started to take her slowly from her family in 2006. It truly has been a LONG GOOD-BYE. She was there physically but her mind was slowly disappearing. In September of 2022, her family moved her to Windsong Memory Facility in Greeley. She spent 2 years and 4 months there before she passed away.

Gerri is survived by her husband of 70 years, Dick, daughter Denise (Greg) Wiedeman, of Eaton, CO and son, Lonnie (Becky) Ochsner of Greeley CO. Grandchildren, Casey (Tamara) Wiedeman of Phoenix, AZ, Kiley (George) Hayward of Colorado Springs, CO and Ryan Ochsner of San Francisco, CA. Great grandchildren Connor and Cody Wiedeman and Levi and Landon Hayward and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Warren Ehrlich.

Memorial gifts may be made to:
Bethel Lutheran Church
Weld County Food Bank
Bristol Hospice

A Celebration of Life will be held 11:00 a.m., Friday, January 24, 2025, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Windsor. A reception will follow the service. A private family inurnment was held prior to the service at Lakeview Cemetery in Windsor.