Obituary of Ilse B. Blythe

Ilse Blythe of Maplewood, NJ died September 14, 2024.

Visitation will be held at The Jacob A. Holle Funeral Home 2122 Millburn Ave, Maplewood on Wednesday, Sept 18^th from 5:00 – 8:00 PM. A Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 217 Prospect Street, South Orange on Thursday, Sept 19^th at 10:00 AM. Interment will follow at Rosedale Cemetery in Montclair.

Ilse was born on January 11, 1936 to Leo and Josephine Niessner (née Sienel) in Grosswaltersdorf, in the German region of Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). As post-war refugees In 1945-46, they were resettled in Karlsruhe, Germany. She studied photography in Cologne, Germany with the intention of being a photo-journalist. After finishing her degree, Ilse returned to Karlsruhe, where she met Winthrop Blythe, a Jamaican serving in the US army. They married in Germany where their first child, Andrea was born before Ilse moved to and joined Winthrop in New York City. They had 3 more children here: Stephan, Christina and Bernhard. She is survived by her 4 children, Andrea’s husband Pat Hickey; her 2 grandsons Marcus Fiore and Stephan Lucchetta and his wife Anjana and their 2 sons Jack and Ajay Lucchetta. Active her whole life in Scouting and other community-making activities, Ilse was admired and beloved with her boundless love, ingenuity and positivity influencing so many whose lives she’s touched over the course of her 88 years.

In lieu of flowers donation to Friends of Eagle Island eagleisland.org/donate

Habitat for Humanity https://secure.habitat.org   or

International Rescue Committee

https://help.rescue.org/donate/make-tribute-donation would be appreciated.