Elva Ruth Wenzel

Elva Wenzel, a wonderfully caring wife and mother, passed away peacefully at her home on September 16, 2022.  Elva lived to be 93, and for all but a few of those years she lived an active and healthy life.  She grew up in a large family with three older sisters, Dolores, Esther, and Hazel, one younger brother, Alan, and two younger sisters, Mary Lou and Carol Ann.  Elva graduated from New Braunfels High School in 1947 and contributed to her class yearbook as artist and co-editor.  She married Marcus Wenzel, her soulmate in a long and loving marriage that lasted nearly 60 years until Marcus passed away in 2007; together they had two children, Rick and Suzanne.  Elva met every life challenge bravely and touched the hearts of all who knew her.  She was an artist, an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction, a prolific letter writer, a follower of the space program since its inception, and a lover of nature and animals, particularly the many pet cats she cared for throughout her life.

Elva earned a black belt in Karate, and in the early 1970s she served as Headmistress of the American Martial Arts Academy in New Braunfels.  Her sewing projects and baked goods won numerous awards at the Comal County Fair in the 1960s and '70s.  She and Marcus enjoyed many multi-kilometer hikes organized by the local walking club, Marsch and Wandergruppe.  They were both members of the Elks Club as well as the German American Society in New Braunfels, where Elva served as the Society's publicity director.  She made a number of trips to California over the years, both to visit her sister Hazel and, starting in 1991, Suzanne and her husband in Los Angeles.  Hazel was a licensed skipper and treated Elva to several Pacific sailing trips, including a race.  One of Elva's California trips coincided with the 1994 Northridge Earthquake; upon returning home to New Braunfels she was interviewed by the local radio station about the experience.

Later in life she was active in the New Braunfels Conservation Society, volunteering during Wurstfest and throughout the year, as well as serving as a docent at the Lindheimer House.  She donated many historical items from her family to the Society's collection.  She was a member of the Peace Lutheran Church of New Braunfels.  Elva was a joyful, wise, caring and loving wife, mother, sibling, aunt and friend.

She is preceded in death by her husband Marcus Wenzel, daughter-in-law Sarjim Wenzel, parents Erwin and Linda Soefje, siblings Dolores French, Alan Soefje, and Esther Bloodworth.  She is survived by her sisters Hazel Allen, Mary Lou Eastman, and Carol Hermes, son Rick Wenzel, daughter Suzanne Wenzel, son-in-law Jim McCarthy, and many nieces and nephews.  The family is deeply grateful to her Visiting Angels caregivers for their aid and compassion that meant so much to Elva over the past 18 months, and to the Hope Hospice team who comforted Elva and her family.  A Celebration of Life gathering in fond remembrance of Elva will be held starting at 2pm on October 21, 2022, at Conservation Plaza (1300 Church Hill Dr., New Braunfels).  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Humane Society of New Braunfels, to the A.S.P.C.A., or to the American Heart Association.