Obituary: Adelaide Mona 'Heidi' Wiegandt (1925-2013)

Adelaide Mona Wiegandt, known to her family as “Heidi” and her friends and associates as “Mona,” was born on Jan. 1, 1925, in Philadelphia, PA to Heinrich and Magdalena (Gallinat) Schroeder. Heidi was educated in Germany and became an elementary school teacher, following in her father’s footsteps. At the end of World War II, circumstances denied her the opportunity to continue in teaching, but the passion to engage in educating children never left her. 

When she arrived in America, she continued to be involved with young children while raising her son, Michael. She worked with handicapped children part-time at the Las Amigos School, and later cared for children at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church/Open Door Church, Mountain View.

Her sister Gudrun remembers how Heidi loved to sing with her two sisters in a three-part harmony accompanied by their mother on the piano. “There was always music and singing in the house.” During the 1980s and 90s, Heidi enjoyed singing with a German singing club called Harmonie Singing Society in the Bay Area and participated with the choir in the Black Forest at Freiburg, Germany.

Heidi was fun loving and had a wide range of interests including writing poetry, story-telling and enjoyed taking classes at Little House in Menlo Park. As her younger sister, Karin, recalls, “Heidi had a natural talent for capturing the essence of family occasions with her humorous verse and made it a tradition, full of infectious inspiration.”

Heidi and her son Michael were avid San Francisco 49ers and Giants fans, and they both enjoyed listening to Pastors Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer whenever possible. One of Heidi’s favorite Bible passages was from John 16:22, “... I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

She was the oldest of four and is survived by her sisters Gudrun Bieber of Sacramento, CA; Karin Castle of Warmington, England, and her brother Detmar Schroeder of Fair Oakes, CA, and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. She was preceded in death by her son, Michael Jeffrey Larson, who passed away on Oct. 12, 2012 at age 56.

Heidi was a long-time resident of Mountain View, CA and died at the Los Altos Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center on July 18, 2013. She was 88. Her final wish was to be cremated and her ashes scattered at the residence of her niece, Astrid Bieber in Boulder Creek, CA.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Thursday, September 5, 2013, at the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, 950 Santa Cruz, Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church or to the Salvation Army.

 Obituary courtesy of Astrid Bieber.