Ingeborg Bankhead

Ingeborg "Inge" Paula Bankhead of Elkins, West Virginia, died Saturday, June 4th, 2011 at Life Care Center of Plano due to complications of Alzheimer's disease.

Inge was born on July 16, 1924 in Germany, the only daughter to the late Josef and Frieda Kaufman. She lived through World War II in Germany. Later, as a young woman, she met Martin "Mike" Bankhead while he was in the United States Army stationed in Germany. The two married on March 30th, 1957 and remained together until Inge's passing.

The two of them had many adventures together. Leaving Germany in late 1957 Inge followed Mike around the world, first to the United States, where in 1958 the couple's son Marty Bankhead was born. The family lived in North Carolina and Ohio, later moving to Kenya in 1975 for 3 years, Iran for 1 year, Nigeria for 10 years then to Egypt for a little over two years, due to Mike's job with Union Carbide. She passed her time in these countries designing jewelry, learning the local languages, and keeping Mike on his toes. Along with her ability for designing jewelry, she also was rather adept at art, designing multiple pieces and creating some of her own. Her ability with language and her lack of an American accent helped spare both Inge and Mike from many a tough situation, especially in Iran when even the Shah had to leave the country to survive the turmoil. For vacation, while living in Nigeria, she even convinced him to sail around the world in 30 days, a trip she much enjoyed, her favorite stop being India. After years of travel and learning and enjoying cultures around the world it was time to settle down. Relaxing into retirement, Inge and Mike moved into a lovely cabin in Upper Tract, West Virginia, where she and Mike spent many years. She enjoyed growing plants to add to the cabin's natural beauty, such as pretty flowers, blue spruce trees and her favorite tree, the cherry blossom. She enjoyed the beautiful scenery that the rural cabin offered and she also enjoyed having dogs, especially Yorkshire Terriers.

Inge is survived by her husband Mike Bankhead, their only son Marty Bankhead with his wife Kathy Bankhead and grandchildren Diane Bankhead and Michael Bankhead of Plano, Texas. Flowers and condolences can be mailed to the Bankhead household at 3924 Sagamore Hill Ct. in Plano, TX 75025. A thank you to all of Inge's loved ones and friends for their support over the years and to Allen Family Funeral Options for their assistance.

A Bid adieu: When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies." That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet every time those words are read, just those two words, it is emotionally overwhelming. And it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." but because of the life we saw prior to the words. Inge lived all five of her acts, from birth to womanhood to love to motherhood and finally her "bid adieu". Life is an occasion, and Inge rose to it!