Obituary of Undine Fiedler

Niskayuna - Undine S. Fiedler, 84, passed away Thursday, October 30, 2008, at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady. She was the third of four children born to Robert and Elsa Southworth of Des Moines, Iowa. Undine obtained a B.S. in Home Economics from Iowa State University, and then worked at the Pillsbury Mills test kitchen in Minneapolis. After two years at Pillsbury, she enrolled at Purdue where she obtained her M.S. degree in foods and nutrition and also met her future husband, Howard. Undine and Howard married in 1949 and moved to Boston, where, among other duties as Assistant Director of the New England Dairy and Food Council, she made television appearances and milked cows on the Boston Common. Over the years, she would often teasingly claim to have put her husband through graduate school. Moving to Schenectady in 1953, Undine bore and raised five children, in whom she took a quiet pride. While the children were growing up she found time to take leadership positions in numerous organizations, including the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady. In 1971 she became the first full-time paid employee of Planned Parenthood of Schenectady as its Executive Director. But for a brief absence where at Niskayuna High School she pursued her interest in teaching, her decade of leadership at Planned Parenthood led to rapid growth in the organization, clients served, and services offered. Upon retiring in 1981, Undine again resumed her activities with volunteer organizations. She also enjoyed spending time at the family camp in the Adirondacks and traveling across the country in their small but comfortable mini-van visiting National Parks, art museums, and their children. She was an avid gardener and superb cook. She became a champion curler at the Schenectady Curling Club. Undine is survived by her husband of a wonderful 59 years, Howard; her sister, Doris Miller; their children, Paul and his wife Suzanne, Anne and her husband Doug, Brian and his wife Sun, Alan, and Stuart and his wife Deborah; and their seven grandchildren. A memorial service is to be held at the First Unitarian Society of Schenectady at 2pm, on Monday, November 3. Donations may be made to the Ellis Hospital Foundation (http://www.ellishospitalfoundation.org) or Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson (http://www.ppmhchoices.org).