Klär Wilhelmsen-Widmer 30.4.1928 - 23. 7.2015
She was born and raised near St. Gallen, with six brothers and sisters. It was a long-standing family tradition in the Widmer family to care for the needy, and her parents ran an institute for 40 needy children. After teaching there for a few years, Klär left her job to become a "permanent" member of Moral Re-Armament. She spent years in Asia and America, where she became the trusted cook at Dr. Buchman's home in Arizona.
In 1964 she married Jens Jonathan and their home became the center of IofC in Oslo. They have two daughters and eight grandchildren. Camilla has just been appointed member of the IofC International Council. Julie is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy and has a passion for Russia.
Remembering Klär at Frogner Church, August 6, 2015
Ingierd Espolin Gaarder, Norway Klär was for me both a very dear relative, a close friend of my parents, an important person in the Initiatives of Change community and moreover my godmother. Our families are connected in many ways, and this for several generations.
As I thought about what I wanted to say about Klär, I thought about his hands. Those hands were small but strong, as she herself was small but strong, and strong-willed! I had the feeling that she was always working. From her hands flowed an uninterrupted stream of letters, cards, beautiful flowerbeds and fruitcakes for the Christmas market.
At New Year's camp, which my generation organized for years, she was usually the first one up to clear the tables and the last one to leave the kitchen after the dishes. It was almost impossible to persuade her to leave the kitchen and sit on a couch. I think she liked hands-on work, and didn't feel the need to be in the front row, but rather in the back in the kitchen!
She would join hands in prayer for many people. She sometimes revealed to me what she was asking for in her prayers, and it was obvious that she was observing and thinking about the people around her much more than it appeared from the outside. She loved others, it was obvious, but she did not depend on them or feel the need to be recognized. There was something unfathomable about her, as if she was anchored in another place, and I believe that she was actually resting in the hand of God. She was Martha and Mary at the same time. Martha the worker and Mary the contemplative. These two aspects were not in conflict but complemented each other.
Klär was able to speak truthfully to the people around her, and to be sometimes very direct and frank in her words. And even if it hurt a little at the time, what she said to you could be useful later on. She could be strict but sometimes surprised us with her freedom from rules and principles. And despite the fact that she lived her whole life in a community where many members had strong opinions, she was guided by the spirit and not the letter.
Klär's faith was not primarily intellectual. That is why she still had so much to give, even though her intellect was weakening. The last months of her life were not free of hardship, but even in the midst of suffering, there was a sense of rest and peace about her. When I think of her, I see her as I often saw her in the summer on the island of Verjo where we shared a family vacation. She follows the path in the setting sun. She observes the flowers, especially the butterfly orchids that she loved so much. She is thinking about something. She smiles...
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