Gretchen Schulte Neff was born on March 14, 1940 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. George Schulte.
Gretchen was one of six children; Catherine Schulte Gallagher of Denver, Colorado (deceased); Jane Schulte White of Winnetka, Illinois (deceased), Louise Schulte Russo of Madison, Wisconsin; Michael Schulte of Southport, North Carolina and Joseph Schulte of Door County, Wisconsin.
Gretchen and her husband, jerry were very proud of their family which includes seven children; Beth Woznica (Michael), Andrew Neff, Peter Chojnacki (Jean), Nancy Perner (Emmet), Mary Rea (Michael deceased), Stephen Neff (Shelly deceased) and Sarah Chojnacki (deceased), dear grandmother of eleven grandchildren: Sarah, Matthew, Cooper, David, Isabelle, Katie, Garrett, Taylor, Michael, Megan, and Sam.
Gretchen attended high school in Racine, Wisconsin and graduated from Loretta Heights College in Denver, Colorado. While in school she became an accomplished downhill skier and water skier appearing in the Tommy Bartlett water ski show in The Dells, Wisconsin.
Upon graduating from college she moved to Cleveland, Ohio and became an elementary school teacher in the Cleveland Public Schools. She later went in to business becoming sales manager of The Holiday Inn and The Hollenden House hotels in downtown Cleveland.
After her career in sales with Cleveland Magazine and Northern Ohio Live magazine, she started her own business; The Party Mart, a party supply retail business which grew to two stores. While in business she continued to be active in sports, mainly tennis and golf playing in several tournaments around Northeastern Ohio.
She closed her business after 14 years when she and her husband Jerry retired to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in 1998.
Unfortunately, Gretchen suffered a stroke in 2002 which curtailed her sports activity to swimming, golf, walking, and cycling. Hilton Head Island was the perfect location for those activities. In addition to sports, Gretchen enjoyed traveling especially to visit her children and grandchildren around the country.
A funeral mass will be held Friday, October 9th at 11:00 am at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hudson, Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to
Hospice of the Western Reserve or www.chsc.org/Main/Speak-Easy.aspx