Waltraut "Trudy" Johnanna Hedwig Stein

Waltraut Johanna Hedwig Stein passed peacefully away on Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Sebring, Florida at the age of 91. Her family called her “Wally”. Her friends here called her “Trudy”.

She was born on March 23, 1932, in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of the late Gerhard and Hertha (Zahn) Stein. The family came to the United States in 1937. They traveled thru Poland, Russa, China, and Japan, and then sailed across the Pacific on the ship “Empress of Asia” to America.

Waltraut earned her Master of Psychology from Ohio University and a PhD in Philosophy from Northwestern University. She was an assistant professor who taught both philosophy and psychology at the University of Georgia and at the University of West Georgia.

Her great aunt Edith Stein was a Jewish woman who converted to Catholicism and was an assistant to Edmund Husserl. Edith’s doctoral dissertation, “On the Problem of Empathy”, was translated by Wally from the original German into English. Edith Stein died in the Holocaust. The Catholic Church later made her a saint named Theresa Benedicta of Cruz.

Waltraut’s favorite old school philosopher was Plato.  From the newer school of thought her favorite was Immanuel Kant.  She also was greatly influenced by the Gestalt psychology of Fritz Pearls and spent a year in a Gestalt commune on Vancouver Island, Canada.

In 2018 Wally moved to The Palms in Sebring from Venice, Florida. She liked to knit, crochet, embroider, and created more than twenty beautiful counted cross stitch pictures.

Waltraut was of the Episcopalian faith. She is survived by her sister Ingrid Gertrud Strope (Marvin) in Sebring, Florida, and by her brother Ronald Paul Stein (Susan) in Portland, Oregon. She is also survived by her nieces, Linda Belle Muntz (Tom) and Julia Belle Strope in Federal Way, Washington.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Habitat for Humanity. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. July 9 at the Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home, 4001 Sebring Parkway, Sebring, FL 33870.

Arrangements entrusted to:
Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home
4001 Sebring Parkway
Sebring, FL  33870
(863) 385-0125
www.stephensonnelsonfh.com