Luck, Ingrid

Southwest Harbor — Ingrid Anna Fenske Luck, 92, died peacefully in her home in Southwest Harbor on 23 September 2016, with family at her side. She was born 29 November 1923 in Potsdam, Germany, daughter of Karl Otto Fenske and Anna Schultz Fenske. She learned to speak fluent English and French, and had hoped to learn more languages and become one of the first female professional translators in Germany, but the start of World War Two put an end to that ambition and she spent the war as a Schoolteacher.

In the same month the war ended, she met her future husband, Julius O. F. Luck, who was one of the first Americans to enter Berlin. Ingrid ended up in East Germany, and was unable to return to the US with Julius when he was sent back. It took him over two years to certify that she was neither a Nazi or a Communist, and in May 1948 she flew in to Idlewild Airport and they were married.

Julius was a Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Ingrid returned to school, earning her Masters in English Literature. She taught English at Freehold High School in NJ for two years until in 1970 when Julius decided to try raising goats and selling goat milk and cheese from a farm in Lamoine. They were way ahead of their time. In 1980 they returned to New Jersey, where Ingrid taught English at Roxbury High School until her retirement in 2001 at the age of 77. Julius died of cancer in 2005, and Ingrid returned to Maine to be with her children and grand children.

At the end, her head was still filled with stories, poems, and songs – in many languages – and she delighted in reciting or singing them.

She is survived by her four sons: J. Alexander and R. Gilbert in Southwest Harbor; C. Norman and his wife Dianne in Buffalo, NY; and Christopher R. and his wife Nia in Somesville. Also her four grandchildren: Melissa and her husband Jerry Rauen in Buffalo NY; Morgan Luck and his wife Nan, in Westbrook, Maine; Madison Luck in Montreal, Canada; and Samantha Luck, in Fredonia, NY.

A commemoration of her life will take place sometime in December when we can gather most of our family together.

In lieu of flowers or anything else, please donate anything you can to The Southwest Harbor Public Library, or The Hancock County SPCA. Those were her two favorite causes, and they’re worthy ones.

SPCA of Hancock County
141 Bar Harbor Road
Trenton, ME 04605

Southwest Harbor Public Library
338 Main Street
Southwest Harbor, ME 04679

Arrangements by Acadia Burial & Cremation Direct, 248 State Street, Ellsworth. Condolences may be expressed at www.acadiacremation.com