Erna Kalteis

Erna Kalteis, 90, of St. Joseph, formerly Chicago, passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. A celebration of life service will be held at 3PM on Saturday, April 17, 2021, at Starks & Menchinger Chapel, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph, MI. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service, from 2PM– 3PM also at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to Caring Circle. Those wishing to send a condolence online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Erna was born on April 7, 1931 to Walther and Erna (Volck) Kenning in Berlin, Germany. On March 20, 1950, she married Nikolaus Kalteis. In 1956 they moved from Germany to the Chicago, IL area. Erna was a homemaker at home and took care of the bookkeeping in their property management business, N & E Management. Erna enjoyed tending to her flower garden and cooking. Most of all, she cherished her family. Erna is survived by her husband of 71 years, Nikolaus Kalteis; children, Hans (Rosie) Kalteis, Lawrence (Monika) Kalteis and Heidi (Michael Wyble) Kusaka-Wyble; grandchildren, Nick Kalteis, Angela (Nick) Hankes, Hans Kalteis, Rhiana Kalteis, Kira Kalties, Jade Kalteis, Paige Kalteis, Christian Kalteis, Alexander Kalteis, Hannah (Evan) Gorenflo, Alec Kusaka and Alicia Kusaka; great-grandchildren, Nikolaus Kalteis, Rosie Hankes, Lauren Hankes and Patrick Kalteis and brothers, Herman (Frances) Kenning and Walter (Inge) Kenning. She was preceded in death by her parents, Walther and Erna Kenning; sons, Chris and Klaus Kalteis; brother, Dieter Kenning and sisters, Inge Kenning and Gertrude “Trauti” (Nikodemus) Kalteis .