Sieglinde Marschall

Sieglinde (Linda) Marschall of Santa Barbara passed away on June 21, 2022, as a result of end-stage Alzheimer’s disease. She was 86 years old.

Sieglinde grew up in Remscheid, Germany, where her father played contrabass in the symphony orchestra and her mother taught piano. She met her future husband, Ekkehard Marschall, while still in high school. After graduation she studied chemistry at a small college in Isny, near Lake Constance, and then worked as a chemical technician in Hannover for several years while Ekkehard finished his Doctor of Engineering degree. Sieglinde and Ekkehard married in Hannover and had two children, Jochen and Anne, born two years apart.

In 1969, Ekkehard was offered a position in the Mechanical Engineering Department at UC Santa Barbara, and the family moved to Isla Vista, first to an apartment and then into a house on Trigo Road, where they lived until 1986, when a final move took them to the sunnier climate of upper Turnpike and a larger yard for gardening.

When the kids were young, Sieglinde volunteered at Isla Vista Elementary School, and then as the kids got older, she worked for a series of aircraft companies at Santa Barbara Airport including Tracor Aviation, Lucas Aviation, and Santa Barbara Aerospace.

In retirement, she volunteered for many years at the Goleta Valley Public Library and spent many hours knitting and donating beanies for newborns. Sieglinde loved classical music, working in the garden, and was an accomplished basket weaver. She was a kind, gentle person and a great mother and wife.

Sieglinde is survived by her husband of 61 years, Ekkehard; her son Jochen (Michelle) and daughter Anne; her grandchildren Sarah (Kyle) and Evan; and her younger sister Bärbel.

The family thanks the staff of the Compass Rose Memory Care unit at Mariposa for taking such good care of Sieglinde during the last two years, and Central Coast Hospice for their compassion and guidance during her final days.