News

By Jane Smith

    HIGHLAND BEACH — Ingeborg Rand’s last wish was to die at home. At age 90, surrounded there by husband John and family, she died May 20 from complications from a fall.
    Known affectionately as Inge (IN-ga) to family and friends, Mrs. Rand was the consummate wife, mother and grandmother.
    On Feb. 26, Mrs. Rand had gotten out of bed in the middle of the night, when she fell in the bedroom and fractured her ankle. She had to have surgery, then weeks of rehab, during which she contracted pneumonia.
    The couple met more than seven decades ago at James Monroe High School in New York City. She had just moved into the neighborhood and when John saw her, he said, “I felt goose bumps and thought, ‘God, she is gorgeous’. ”
    She was born April 19, 1924, near Dusseldorf, Germany, to William and Frances Schmitz. The Schmitz family came to the U.S. when their daughter was 4.
    Her future husband proposed to her when they were 19. He wanted her to wait while he went into the Army to serve in World War II, where he was assigned to the Signal Corps in Burma and China. He bought her an engagement ring from his family jeweler, paying $15 a month for 10 months.
    They were married July 20, 1946, in St. Helena’s Church in New York City.
    “She was a fabulous dresser and everyone complimented her sense of style,” said her husband.
    After his career in banking in New York, they were ready to retire to Florida. His secretary suggested Highland Beach because she had a friend in Boca Raton who recommended it.
    Mrs. Rand was preceded in death by her son, Dr. John Rand.
    In addition to her husband, survivors are two daughters — Linda Ladolcetta and her husband, Gary, of Princeton, N.J., and Ingrid Sornesen and her husband, Michael, of Cape May Court House, N.J.; and six grandchildren — Michael Ladolcetta of Ohio, Lauren Ladolcetta of New York, and Susan, Elizabeth, Kelly and John P. Rand of California.
    The Glick Family Funeral Home of Boca Raton handled the arrangements. Mrs. Rand’s funeral service was private.