Gertraud A. (Trudy) Bopp, 90, died Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015 in NC. Mrs. Bopp was a resident of the River Landing At Sandy Ridge Retirement Community in Colfax, NC and was formerly of Middletown, Little Silver and Tinton Falls, NJ.
Gertraud was born in Coburg, Germany. She came to the United States in 1952 after receiving a Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from Ohm-Polytechnikum in Nuernberg, Germany. She was the Assistant Director of Research and later Director of Materials Science for the General Cable Corporation. She later served as a Senior Research Scientist with the Wire and Cable Materials Group of the Union Carbide Corporation. She was awarded a number of U. S. Patents during her career including several together with her late husband, Louis.
Mrs. Bopp was a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 22, Red Bank, NJ. Her status was changed to retired in 2013. During the week following the September 11, 2001 attack, she served as a boat crew person, ferrying fireman and equipment to Ground Zero. She was also known for her work producing Over the Bow, a color magazine for the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Trudy, as her friends knew her, excelled as a runner, frequently winning her age category into her seventies. In earlier years, she was an avid swimmer, skier (snow and water) and power lifter.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Louis; parents, Rudolf and Gertrud Schmidt of Coburg, Germany; her sister, Inge Loessl, Munich, Germany; brother, Gunter and sister-in-law, Gisela. She is survived by her nephew, Dr. Donald Schmidt of Longmont, CO; nieces, Susan Duroncelet of Sacramento, CA, Bina Loessl of Munich, Germany, Hanne Schoenlau of Nuremberg, Germany, her children, Markus and Charlotte and Charlotte’s children, Lotta and Madita, all of Germany. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 26 at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY. A memorial service will be planned at a later date. Please visit Gertraud’s memorial website available at www.johnedayfuneralhome.com.
