Col. (ret.) Margarete Di Benedetto M.D., 89, of Ashland, died July 25, 2015. Born October 27, 1925 in Alt Dobern, Germany, she was the daughter of Kurt and Margarete (Weidinger) Fiekel. Margarete met Philip Di Benedetto while working in a US Army hospital in Germany in 1949 and the two were later married on August 24, 1952 in St. Thomas Church in New York City. Margarete attended school and was educated as a Physician in Germany. After moving to the United States, she returned to work as a doctor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation when her children were in grade school, settling in North Olmstead. She worked many places over the years, including Cleveland, Baltimore, Boston, Milwaukee and Charlottesville, Virginia, before retiring in Ohio to be near her family. In her later career she was recruited by the Army to establish and serve as Chairman of the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. She achieved many honors throughout her illustrious career, but despite all those accomplishments, her family was her biggest personal success.
A proud mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Margarete was a dynamic woman with high energy and a great sense of humor. She loved the pursuit of learning and followed in her parents’ footsteps by pursuing a career in medicine; her father had been a doctor and her mother was a nurse. Married for 62 years, Margarete was deeply in love with her husband and the two made the perfect pair. In her free time, she was an active member and volunteer at St. Edward Catholic Church Hunger Center and loved teaching 6th graders at library time; and a member of the Ashland Area Chorus, having been an operatically trained singer.
Surviving are her husband, Philip Di Benedetto; children, Mary-Rose (Allan) Andersen and Thomas (Laura Howard) Di Benedetto; grandchildren, Heidi (Dan) Jentes and Kristina (James) Murphy (who are expecting their first child soon); great grandchildren, Erika, Alyssa, Daisy, and Lexi McFrederick; step-great grandchildren Dan and Sam Jentes; sister, Ursala Heinsohn; and co-parent, Jean Andersen.
Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Ingeborg Fiekel.
Family and friends are invited to visit on Thursday, July 30, 2015 from 4-7 p.m. at the Ashland Home of Wappner Funeral Directors, 308 Claremont Avenue, Ashland. Wake service at 6:45 p.m. Thursday. A mass of Christian burial will be held Friday, July 31, 2015 at 10 a.m. at St. Edward Catholic Church, conducted by Rev. Father, Rodney A. Kreidler. Burial will follow in Ashland Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Edward Catholic Church of St. Edward Catholic School, 433 Cottage Street, Ashland, Ohio 44805.
Words of comfort may be expressed at www.wappner.com.
