Sophie K. Coalwell

To view Sophie's Memorial Service, please click on the following link: https://vimeo.com/646490935/a2655bd48e

Sophie Karoline Coalwell was born May 13, 1948, in Vienna, Austria, to Franz Tiefenbock and Adele Vogt. After graduating from high school with a passion for fashion and style, she continued her education and became a hairstylist and a tailor, making clothing and draperies. When the economy worsened, Sophie moved to West Germany and sold clothing by day and waited tables in a hotel restaurant in Kitzingen during the evening. It was there, in March 1981, that she met a young Army officer who had just arrived for duty at the tactical missile site near there and they fell in love.
On May 29, 1982, Sophie married 1LT Rick L. Coalwell in Dilworth, Minnesota. Embracing the transient military life, she enthusiastically made homes for her family everywhere the Army sent them: Germany; Fort Bliss, Texas; Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Kwajalein, Republic of the Marshall Islands; and Washington, D.C.; always enjoying it as a continuing adventure.
Sophie was always quick to get involved in all of her new communities and was very generous with her time and talents. She always volunteered for anything that helped military families. Sophie worked tirelessly in the Army posts' thrift shops to raise money for troop morale activities and worked fundraisers for her churches, schools, youth groups, and soldiers. She was active in the church, served as a scout leader, tended to church gardens, made unit flags and banners, chaperoned youth trips, fabricated costumes, and helped young military spouses and their children deal with family separations during military deployments. She also hosted numerous socials welcoming new families to the community and bidding a fond farewell to departing families. In short order, everyone seemed to know Sophie. Although she didn't need them, Sophie received several awards for her individual volunteer work. She was most proud when her family was chosen as the Volunteer Family of the Year.
Sophie was very outgoing and needed to meet people, socialize and laugh. She enjoyed traveling to see and learn about different places and cultures, and found it easy to blend in and mingle. Sophie loved to dance and attend ballets, operettas, Broadway performances, and concerts ranging from classical to rock; but she particularly delighted in the music of Johann Strauss. Sophie was extremely creative and could do all sorts of crafts from sewing or knitting, to making various original ornaments or jewelry, to her intricate Gobelin pictures, and so much more. She adored decorating the house for every holiday, especially Christmas. Sophie was a great cook who was not afraid to experiment. Her Austrian specialties were so revered that friends would beg invitations to dinner. She loved to play family board games and cards and do puzzle books. Sophie was a loving, nurturing and supportive wife, mother and grandmother who was proud of and loved her family dearly and cherished the time she had with them and all of her friends.
Sophie lost her courageous eight-year fight with cancer, which was exacerbated by her 17-year battle with COPD. She passed away peacefully while under comfort care with her husband at her side on Friday, September 10, 2021, at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, at the age of 73.
Sophie is survived by her husband, Rick; son, Rick II; and grandson, Christopher, all of Prince William County, VA; sister, Inge Parragh, Vienna, Austria; mother-in-law, Patricia Coalwell, Dilworth, MN; two brothers-in-law, Mark (Jeanne) Coalwell, Maple Grove, MN, and Keith (Michelle) Coalwell, Dilworth; and many cousins, nephews and nieces.
Sophie was preceded in death by her parents; father-in-law, Rolland Coalwell; and brother-in-law Hansi Parragh.
Memorial Service for Sophie will be Saturday, November 20, 2021, at 11:00 AM, with visitation one hour prior in Dilworth Lutheran Church, Dilworth.
Tributes to Sophie and comments to her family may be left on the Korsmo Funeral and Cremation Service website at: www.korsmofuneralservice.com. Her interment at Arlington National Cemetery occurred on October 26, 2021. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made in Sophie's name to the American Cancer Society or the American Lung Association.

To view Sophie's Memorial Service via livestream, please click on the link below:
https://portal.midweststreams.com/services/watch/0O8dPfGhbg