Brunhilde Anna Luise was born in Stettin, the former capital of the provinz of Pomerania, Germany, to the police officer Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt and Martha Elizabeth Klatt (nee Nennman). Her only sister, Renate, was born in 1938. Having difficulty pronouncing her sister's first name, Renate began to call her sister 'Hilla'. This nickname became official when Hilla gained US Citizenship in 1965.
The family separated after WWII. Her parents and sister moved to Berlin, Germany and Hilla stayed in East-Germany to finish her teacher education. Over time it became increasingly evident that she, being a practicing Christian, would not be able to graduate much less find work in communist Germany. She finished her teaching degree at the Free University in Berlin where she began her teaching career. Hilla met her future husband, Horst, while engaged in youth work in a Lutheran parish in Berlin.
In 1960, together with their son, Hans Joachim, they immigrated to Milwaukie, Wisconsin and two years later moved to the Pacific Northwest. Their daughter, Heidi Ruth, joined them in 1967.
Hilla embraced her role as loving wife, mother, and homemaker with total joy and commitment. Her friends and family remember that her hospitality was as warm as her smile. Her tortes and Christmas stollen were legendary. Under her label Castle Candy Company, of Canby, Oregon, Hilla developed recipes and produced European style candies using Lindt chocolate. She loved to sew, knit and crochet and taught herself to quilt. One of her quilts won best of show in the Clackamas County Fair.
Hilla was a prolific writer of personal stories about her interesting and often dramatic past. These she shared widely with family and friends, gifts to be treasured by all who have received them.
A devoted Christian, Hilla lived her faith every hour of every day. Her genuinely warm heart touched all who knew her.
An angel has returned to heaven and we will all miss her very much.
She is survived by her husband, Horst, of sixty-two years,
her son Hans, his wife Elizabeth, and grandchildren, Julia and William
her daughter Heidi and granddaughter Megan,
her sister Renate and family in Berlin, Germany
and a great number friends who became like an extended family to her.