Waltraud Margarete (Bischoff) Mullinger

Waltraud Margarete (Margaret) Mullinger, age 90, passed away on Saturday in Bridge Hospice, after severe head injuries from a bad fall.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Augustus John (Jack) Mullinger, Jr., and by a younger brother, Klaus Bischoff.  She leaves behind a son, Ralph Mullinger and his wife Dawn Mullinger of Findlay, a daughter Yvonne Mullinger and her husband Scott Holmes, a granddaughter, Kira Holmes (all in Connecticut), and her youngest brother, Volker Bischoff (Germany). 

Waltraud Bischoff was born in in the small city of Langensalza, in Germany, to Max and Frieda (Gering) Bischoff, and as a young girl experienced some of the hardships of WWII.  She experienced hope when American forces took over her town, but they soon gave it up to the Soviets, to incorporate into the communist part of Germany.  She very soon left, at age 14, to work for distant family in Hamburg, West Germany, where she stayed a couple of years.  Yet to visit her home, she snuck through a heavily guarded border between East and West Germany several times.

She later took a job as a maid in a home in Ireland, whose owners spoke German and English, in order to learn the latter.  She took that language skill back to Germany to work as a secretary for the US Army.  During that work, she met Air Force Private Jack Mullinger.  They soon were engaged and she followed him home to the New York City suburbs, where they married.  Both of them worked hard, brought up two children, bought a house, and built a life in New York.  Waltraud worked as a secretary, then learned some law and became a legal secretary, until she retired.

Waltraud loved travel, opera, botany, gardening, and befriending former East German opera stars.  She was also an avid photographer.

Jack Mullinger passed away in April 2016.  Thereafter, Waltraud, with help from her son, gradually got her house sold, to move to Findlay to be near Ralph and Dawn.  Largely independent to the end, she nonetheless welcomed their assistance with financial and medical matters, and enjoyed traveling with them.  She also attended First Lutheran Church, where she found a new spiritual home and participated actively.  She also visited 50 North nearly every weekday morning, for exercise.

Visitation for Waltraud Mullinger will be from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at Kirkpatrick-Behnke Funeral Home, 500 Lima Avenue, Findlay, followed by a memorial service, officiated by Pastor Bob Cochran, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

Her ashes will then be taken back to New York City to be buried next to her husband’s in Woodlawn Cemetery.  Memorial contributions may be made to First Lutheran Church, 109 East Lincoln Street; to 50 North, 339 East Melrose Avenue and/or to Bridge Hospice, 15100 Birchaven Lane; all of Findlay, Ohio 45840.

Online condolences may be shared with the family via www.kirkpatrickbehnke.com.

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