Greta Malchow

Greta, born a small-town girl in Virginia, Minnesota, lived a life rich with friends, travel, family, faith, and service to others. As a child, her family (father August Sandberg, mother Laimi, and brother Richard) moved to Bremerton, Washington, relocating to Seattle after WWII.  While Greta said the move was difficult at the time, she also credited the experience as opening her eyes to the wider world. She had the ability to see all life experiences as growth.

Returning to Minneapolis, MN, Greta lived above the neighborhood grocery store her parents established. After graduation from Washburn High School, she moved to Washington, DC to work for the FBI. The four young women who embarked on this adventure remained friends and corresponded throughout their lives. Maintaining relationships through distance and time was important to Greta and she reconnected with people whenever she could. Her Christmas card list was extensive.

In 1956, she married William “Red” Malchow (1931- 2012). They raised two children, Scott (Nancy) Malchow and Karin (Derr Bergenthal) Malchow, in Columbia Heights, MN.  Greta was devoted to her grandchildren: Erik, Kyle, Luke and Jake Bergenthal and Anna and Sarah Malchow. Greta always patiently listened, supported, comforted and joyfully joined her family’s activities.

Greta quietly broke barriers during her professional life. Her intelligence, organizational and collaborative skills and commitment to completing all tasks to the best of her ability carried her through a variety of jobs: from a part-time “hat check girl” night job as a young mother to a contract administrator at FMC Corp. For most of her career, she was in demand as a secretary, a role she viewed as important and comprehensive. She honed her skills at problem-solving and office management by becoming a Certified Professional Secretary.  As laws passed in the ‘70s supporting women in the workplace, Greta wrote letters advising the company personnel/legal departments of changes (such as including women in company sponsored work-related seminars) they needed to make.  Like everywhere she went, she made lifelong friends at work and actively supported others’ careers and goals.

Greta and Red travelled around the world, joining an early tour group led by WCCO’s Roger Erickson to China in the ‘80s, and later touring Australia and New Zealand. They traveled Europe by air, rail, and cruises, including to her father’s birthplace Sweden, which she said “felt like home.”

At home, she played cards with enthusiasm, organizing a card club with friends and setting up card tables at the many family gatherings she hosted. She participated in bowling leagues with Red for many years, recruiting friends and family for their teams. She enjoyed crafts, from the once-ubiquitous bleach bottle pigs in her youth to ‘70s macrame to quilting in retirement; she made each grandchild their own unique quilt. She was a skilled seamstress (once making matching outfits for herself, her daughter and her daughter’s Barbie doll), crocheted afghans, and wove Swedish blankets. She gave most of her creations as gifts or donations to church bazaars; many people have been wrapped by her expressions of love.

Greta was devoted to God, her faith, and her church, whether First Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights, MN (where she married, volunteered, and was active in Circle) or Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Mesa, AZ, where she and Red retired in the ‘90s. (Still volunteering, including in the church kitchen renovation.) She studied the Bible most of her life, both in church groups and on her own. She and Red often listened to a recording of the Bible on their many road trips across the country. She lived the lessons she learned: honesty, gratitude, humility, compassion, trust, and service.

Her faith sustained her in her long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She resided at Someren Glen in Centennial, CO for the last 9 years of her life, where she never lost her spirit or the ability to touch people’s hearts.