Ingrid Eugenie Watson

Ingrid Eugenie Watson, 91, of Greeley, Colorado passed away October 13, 2026.

Ingrid was born to Ewald Wendt and Eugenie Mestel Wendt on February 7, 1935, in Riga,

Latvia. The family moved to Poznan, Poland in 1940 where her mother died unexpectedly. 

Her paternal grandmother and aunt took care of her and her brother Axel,

until her father remarried Hildegard Moewes. While her father was serving as a translator

in WWll, Hildegard, Ingrid, and Axel fled Poland and went to live in Berlin and then

Bremen. There the family worked on their uncle’s farm and Ingrid went to a nearby

school until her graduation. After WWII ended, the family learned that Ewald had passed

away in a Poland prison camp. Ingrid then moved to Munich, Germany and began nursing

school when she turned 17. After receiving her nursing license, she worked throughout

Germany and Greece and then moved back to Bremen to work at a rehabilitation facility.

While moonlighting at a bowling alley to help pay off a car she had just purchased, she

met an American soldier, Gerald Watson, who later became her husband.

They married in 1963 and later welcomed Chris David in 1964. They then relocated

to the states where Gerald returned to veterinary school at Michigan State. Ingrid worked

as a hostess at Howard Johnson’s and later babysat for Michigan State students. They

welcomed two daughters Susanne (1966) and Stephanie (1969) while living in Clovis, New

Mexico, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. They then moved their young family to Bismarck,

North Dakota where they spent the next thirteen years. Ingrid was a homemaker, busy

sewing, crafting, and raising her three children. One of her proudest moments was

earning her US citizenship in 1976. Their family bought land near Park Rapids, Minnesota,

built a cabin and spent endless summers enjoying the lake, catching and frying fish, and

working at Brookside Resort. In 1982, the family then moved to Greeley Colorado which became their final residence.

Ingrid spent her retirement years enjoying summers in Greeley and winters in south

Texas at her sea cottage. She continued her passion of sewing and working on hercrafting projects.

She is survived by her husband of 63 years Gerald, her three children Chris (Stephanie),

Susanne (Michael), Stephanie (Garth Jr), grandsons Alec, David (Chloe), Stephen (Jenna),

Garth lll (Leslie), Mitchell (Jackie), Trevin, Blake (Brecken), Tucker, and Talan, and three

great-grandsons (Wade, Wesley, Garth IV), one great-granddaughter (Scottie) with three more great-grandchildren on the way.

 Ingrid is also survived by a brother Axel (Wilma)and two nephews (Armin and Frank) who reside in Germany.

There will be a family celebration of life at a later date.