Ursula Kalichevsky

Ursula Kalichevsky passed away on August 13th 2024 in her home in Clemson SC.

Ursula was born on July 22nd 1932 in Bremerhaven, Northern Germany. She was the daughter of the late Diedrich Wilhelms and Henriette Heikamp. She was also predeceased by her husband of 44 years, Wladimir Kalichevsky, and her sister Ingeborg Wildenhain. She is survived by her Daughter (Monica Kalichevsky-Dong), Son-in-Law (Liang Dong) and 2 grandsons (Timothy and Jonathan Dong) as well as her nieces Barbara Sprung and Dagmar Wildenhain and other family and friends in Germany, France and England.

She survived growing up during WWII living mostly in Bremerhaven, Germany. Her father was often away in the merchant navy. After High School, she studied English and shorthand typing and worked as a secretary in the shipping industry, moving to work in London, England in 1954, where she met her husband Wladimir Kalichevsky. They married in 1957 and had their only daughter in 1963. She worked as a translator while her daughter was small and then in a Post Office, later in an Office doing secretarial work and finally as a medical secretary at St. George’s hospital, London, for a doctor, doing research into Marfan syndrome, retiring at age 70 in 2002.

She emigrated to Clemson, USA in April 2023, to live with her daughter and her family and enjoyed more than a year of being close to her family here.

She had Parkinson’s disease for more than 20 years, as well as more recent ailments. She loved to walk and loved nature. When she had her last fall, it was partly because she was so eager to go for a walk. She was a peacemaker and peace-loving, and always enjoyed meeting new people. She taught her daughter to love nature and people of all backgrounds and races, as well as music. One of her favorite pieces of music was Beethoven’s Ode to Joy – “all people will become brothers”. She also loved travel and the arts – films, music and painting. We will greatly miss her beautiful smile which she shared generously, even when in hospital. 

We are grateful to all her wonderful carers in the UK and USA and the all the staff at Oconee Memorial Hospital as well as the folks from Prisma Health Hospice of the Foothills, who helped her so much during her last days.

A memorial service will be held on September 7th, 2024, at 10:00 am at Duckett-Robinson Funeral Home. Visitation will follow the service.

Please do not send flowers. If you want to make a tribute, you can make a gift to the Parkinson’s Foundation (https://www.parkinson.org/) in her honor.