Obituary of Christine Grattan

CHRISTINE GRATTAN

LOUDONVILLE - Christine Grattan, a devoted mother and grandmother, creative spirit, and dear friend to many, passed away on September 24, 2023 following complications due to treatment for advanced breast cancer, with her family by her side.

Christine was born in 1944 in Magdeburg, Germany. When she was four years old, her family defected from then East Germany to West Germany, settling in the city of Aachen. She grew up there with her parents and brothers – two older, and her twin, Georg. Even then, her creativity and warmth were an essential part of her, whether in an art class or playing soccer in the neighborhood or learning ballroom dance. She studied education at university and after graduating became a biology and English teacher.

In 1970, on a trip in Davos, Switzerland, she met an American, William Grattan, in a ski class. They quickly fell in love and were soon engaged. After she and William married, she left Germany and moved with him to Waterford, NY, where they would live together for several decades. A year into their marriage, they welcomed their daughter, Anna, followed by their sons Thomas and Christian. As her children grew older, Christine began working in several creative fields, including event design and floral arranging, and co-owed a thriving flower shop for a time. She owned and managed a handful of rental properties, too, and found great enjoyment in maintaining those properties and getting to know the people living there. She also took graduate-level classes in studio art.

Twenty-three years ago, the first of her four grandchildren was born, and Christine spent the next decades as a devoted and joyful grandmother. She spent any free moment she had with her grandchildren, and as they grew older, she was a staple at every recital, dance performance, school assembly, and sporting event, even for sports she had little understanding of. Her grandchildren were truly one of the greatest joys of her life.

She continued to develop her creativity later in life, creating ceramics and spending time gardening, both at her home and as an integral member of the Fort Orange Garden Club. She gardened and made ceramics up until the last weeks of her life.

Christine will be remembered for her warmth and infectious excitement for life, her spirited dancing whenever dancing was an option, her creativity, and the devotion, pride, and joy she felt for her children and grandchildren.

She is survived by her children: Anna Grattan Flik (Kyle Flik) of Loudonville, NY, Thomas Grattan (David Horne) or Kinderhook, NY and New York City, and Christian Grattan of Lisbon, Portugal, her beloved grandchildren Katarina Flik, Anika Flik, Maximilian Flik, and Lukas Flik, several nieces and nephews, as well as many dear friends she long considered family.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating in her name to the Fort Orange Club Scholarship Committee, given to a student committed to plant or environmental sciences. Donations may be mailed to Fort Orange Garden Club Scholarship Fund, P.O Box 654, Latham, NY 12110.

Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend calling hours on Saturday, October 7th, 2023 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Dufresne & Cavanaugh Funeral Home, 149 Old Loudon Rd., Latham, NY.

To leave a condolence message for the family or for further information please visit www.dufresneandcavanaugh.com.