Elke Kruger Westmoreland

Elke Westmoreland, age 86, a resident of Fairhope/Point Clear, Alabama since 1992, died in Daphne, Alabama on July 7, 2025. Elke was born on November 9, 1938, in Altenburg, Thuringia, Germany. She lived in several European countries, including the western part of the Czech Republic, once called Sudetenland, from where her family escaped in 1945. They had to escape once more from the former East Germany into then West Germany.

Elke’s father was hired by the Dutch government as an engineer, and she attended the International School in The Hague. Elke’s experience as a small child in Germany in World War II left a lifelong legacy of seeking peace among peoples and respecting the devastating effects of war on individuals, families, and societies. She subsequently studied French at the Sorbonne in Paris and also took courses at the University of Stockholm.

In January of 1963, at the age of 24, she immigrated to the United States as a translator for the National Lutheran Council in New York City. In 1966 she married Richard Westmoreland and gave birth to their daughter in 1972. Elke earned a Bachelors Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Masters Degree from the University of Dallas. She loved studying history and various languages. Although she primarily devoted her life to her family, she and her husband enjoyed frequent international travels together. For many years she was also a volunteer at the Fairhope Welcome Center and the Weeks Bay Reserve, as well as a longtime member of Welcome Newcomers.

Surviving Elke are her daughter, Barbara Brousseau, granddaughter, Alexandra Brousseau, and son-in-law, Pascal Brousseau.

Elke’s celebration of life will be held in Malone Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Daphne at 11am on Thursday, August 14. The family will receive friends one hour in advance of the service.

In lieu of flowers, Elke and her husband Dick loved listening to classical music together and suggest that donations be made to the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, 257 Dauphin St, Mobile, AL 36602 or at their website, mobile symphony.org

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