Johanna Stuhlmiller
Johanna Stuhlmiller was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. as an adult where she met her loving husband, Raymond, and raised a family she cherished. She will be missed by all who knew her.
It is with earthly sadness and heavenly joy that the family of Johanna Franziska Stuhlmiller announces that her blessed Lord Jesus called her home to her victorious eternal rest midway through the morning while she was sleeping Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023. A lovely, elegant woman who never shrunk from a difficulty, stepped back from a task to be done or turned aside from someone in need, Johanna will forever be remembered and deeply cherished in the hearts of those who knew her best.
Johanna was born June 4, 1938, to Michael and Maria Eberl in the heart of Bavaria in Bad Tolz, Germany. In her teen years, she left her home and underwent training in a finishing school for girls. At the age of 17, Johanna boarded the U.S.S. Constitution with her sister Anna and traveled to America, landing on Ellis Island, to continue her life in the United States. Johanna arrived in Cheney, Wash., in 1955 and resided there with her sister while she took some college courses and worked as a waitress at a local malt shop. She also cared for her niece, Michelle, when at home during the day.
Johanna met Raymond, her husband of 63 years in December 1959. They began dating a month later, sharing many wonderful times together and were married Nov. 12, 1960, in Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Cheney. Johanna and Raymond then began their life together just outside of Quincy, Wash., on the family ranch above Trinidad where Raymond was farming dryland wheat. It was also in 1960 that Johanna became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Children came soon after with the births of David, Michael and Heidi. In 1967, Johanna and Raymond moved into their new home in Quincy where Johanna would spend the rest of her life as a wife, mother and homemaker. Johanna loved her home and took care of it with a Bavarian housewife’s touch.
Raised in a Roman Catholic family, Johanna took on the Lutheran faith soon after marrying Raymond. Johanna enjoyed participating in altar guild, helping with meals, and participating in the ladies' groups, while supporting her family’s growth in the teaching of the Lord.
Johanna revealed herself to be very structured and organized, stern, yet loving and kind, always following a disciplined approach to dealing with her children, getting work done and in helping with any other needs of the family and farming operation as necessary. During the wheat harvest, Johanna kept the family eating well both out on the farm and when returning for dinner after the day’s work.
Johanna was a skilled cook and her kitchen was always clean and welcoming — usually the place in the house where everyone would meet to visit together. She liked baking new things and cutting out recipes and she especially enjoyed making chocolate chip cookies for the family and the neighbors.
Johanna enjoyed her social activities, participating in Beta Sigma Phi Sorority, encouraging her children in their activities, snow-skiing with Raymond in the winter, visiting Leavenworth and sewing. A highlight of her life took place in 1960 when she attended the Squaw Valley Olympics to watch her brother Schorsch compete in ice hockey for the German Olympic team.
Through the years, Johanna traveled to Germany often, always refreshing her love for home and her hometown Bad Tolz, sitting on the Isar River amid the German Alps. Many of these trips were taken with Raymond and their children, who fondly remember all the sights and sounds of a beautiful land that seemed so imaginary, but that their mother remembered only as home. Johanna and Raymond traveled to many places throughout Germany. Johanna was always sharing her homeland with everyone interested. She dressed in a classy European style and was always shopping for the latest fashions wherever she could find them.
In the last four or five years of her life, Johanna was beset by lingering health problems with which she coped daily. In her last few months of life, Johanna lived her life as always, waking up to her morning cup of coffee, enjoying her life with Raymond and keeping in close touch with her children and the rest of her family.
Johanna was preceded in death by her father and mother, Michael and Maria Eberl of Bad Tolz, Germany; her sisters, Maria Eberl of Bad Tolz and Anna Colyar (Art) of Cheney, Wash.; and her brothers Michael Eberl (Gertraud) and Schorsch Eberl (Ingrid) of Bad Tolz.
Johanna is survived by her sister-in-law, Ingrid Eberl.