Alfred O. Gottschalck, Sr.

Alfred O. Gottschalck, Sr., 91, of Hockessin, Delaware passed away on Sunday, June 9, 2019 due to complications from a series of strokes suffered beginning on February 9, 2019. He met the Lord his savior Jesus Christ in the comfort of his beloved home in his favorite room surrounded by his loving wife of 52 years, Antionette M. (Mirabella) Gottschalck and his cherished two sons, Alfred O. Gottschalck, Jr. and Jonathan C. Gottschalck.

Alfred was born in Chicago, IL on October 12, 1927, the only child of Egon Gottschalck and Lena Einsiedler Gottschalck. They shortly moved to Omaha, NE until Alfred was 4 when his mother passed away of cancer. Over the years Alfred expressed many times to his wife that he felt a great void in his life of not having a mother.  Alfred grew up knowing that his mother loved him very much and that he was often told that his mother called him “Sunny boy.” After his mother’s passing, Alfred moved overseas to Denmark to live with his paternal grandmother. World War II broke-out and Alfred was unable to return to the United States. After the war ended, Alfred joined the Danish merchant marines and served for two years before returning to the United States at age 20 eventually residing in Wilmington, DE after passing through Ellis Island in 1947. Soon after, Alfred joined the U.S. Army and proudly served his country during the Korean War era.

Alfred had an incredibly strong work ethic and was forced to work for everything he accomplished early in life. He first started working for the DuPont Co. in Delaware in the mail room, but later graduated from Drexel University with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1956 working for the DuPont Co. during the day and attending college at night. He went on to work for the company for over 40 years full time and continued to work as a contractor into his 70s.

Alfred met his love of his life in 1966 at a party and he and Antionette were married in June 1967, bought their first home in 1968 and started a family with the birth of their two sons in August 1969 and March 1972. Alfred was a tireless and devoted father and husband throughout his life as his number one priority was always the comfort of his family, no matter what the circumstances. He was an avid Philadelphia Flyers and Eagles hockey and football fan respectively, but also enjoyed taking his sons to many Philadelphia Phillies baseball games. He received great satisfaction working outside on his property doing yard and house work with his wife Antionette and doing various woodworking projects. His greatest enjoyment came when he was spending time with his family, whether it be taking his sons on a hike Saturday morning’s at a nearby park, antiquing with his wife on weekends, bike riding around the neighborhood on Sunday afternoons or 4th of July cookouts in the back yard.    

Alfred leaves behind Antoinette M. Gottschalck, his loving wife of 52 years; his devoted sons, Alfred, Jr. (Tara) and Jonathan (Lisa) and five grandchildren: Shannon Elizabeth, Kyle Vincent, Timothy Joseph, Chloe Ann and Isabella Marie, as well as many nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his favorite aunt and uncle, Axel and Nancy Weber.

The family would like to give their heartfelt thanks to Dr. Kevin O’Hara, for his support for many years, the nurses and support staff at both Christiana Hospital in Delaware and Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland. Also, special thanks goes to the Crofton Care and Rehabilitation Center in Crofton, MD and Seasons Hospice in Delaware who took such tireless and compassionate care of him during his last four months of life. The memorial service will be private and for immediate family only. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations in memory of Alfred be made to one of the two organizations below:

https://www.cffde.org

https://www.stroke.org/donate/

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