Sibylle Brigitte Brandau

With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Sibylle
Brigitte Brandau (Greenville, South Carolina), who
passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on
August 18, 2020 at the age of 83. We know it gave
her comfort that her husband of almost 57 years was
with her until the end.
Despite COVID lockdowns and travel bans, in the
last few weeks, her two sons were able to visit with
her daily either in person or via video chat, which was
no easy feat as Sibylle had a fear of destroying
anything electronic. When being pressed on this, she
often pointed out that being surrounded by three men that fought over radios, TV’s,
remotes and computers may have aided in this “phobia”, but no responsibility will be
accepted.
Apropos responsibility, one cannot forget the deafening silence in the house when an
exacerbated Sibylle inquired, “Which rhinoceros may have left a paper handkerchief
in the laundry”, thereby requiring a re-wash to remove the paper fuzz…
As no guilty party could be found among her three men, responsibility was assigned to
the family dog. Which over the years became a running joke in the family as the dog
must have been omnipresent to account for so many mishaps.
Sibylle enjoyed entertaining and cooking and had a natural gift in creating wonderful
meals even from the humblest ingredients. Her “Zauberküche” (experimental cooking)
was the source of joy, as well as, frustrations on the part of her sons trying to follow in
her footsteps as she often did not remember the exact ingredients and measurements.
At the urging of her sons she started writing some of her favorite recipes down, which
became the most copied document in the Brandau household.
Sibylle is predeceased by her parents Erich and Anna, as well as her sister Erika. She is survived by her husband Hilmar and her sons Christian and Oliver.
A celebration of life will take place at a later time when travel restrictions are hopefully based on science and not politics.