Lotte Ulbricht, 98, widow of East German...
Lotte Ulbricht, 98, widow of East German leader Walter Ulbricht under whose rule the Berlin Wall was built, died Monday night at her home in eastern Berlin’s Pankow district. The cause of death was not announced.
Born Lotte Kuehn in Berlin, she joined the German Communist Party at age 18 and rose through its ranks in the 1920s, becoming a member of its central committee.
She worked for the Communist International, or Comintern, in Moscow after leaving Germany in the 1930s. She remained in the Soviet capital, where she met her husband, until the end of World War II.
She later became a secretary to Ulbricht in East Germany’s ruling Socialist Unity Party, which he led from 1953 to 1971.
She had no major political role, but Lotte Ulbricht was active in party committees for women’s affairs and ideology.
Erich Honecker replaced her husband as East German leader in 1971. Ulbrichte died in August 1973.
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Vernette Ripley Tatum, 88, widow of former Walt Disney Co. president and chairman Donn B. Tatum, died Saturday at her Pacific Palisades home.
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