Trudy Annette Kretchman

Trudy Kretchman (nee Hammer) passed away peacefully on May 10, 2023, surrounded by her loving family at Accent Hospice Care in Cumming, GA. She will always be remembered by family and friends for her kindness, fierce intelligence, occasional feistiness, family loyalty, and green thumb.

Trudy was born in Chicago in 1929. Her German parents had emigrated to America hoping for a better life. Sadly, her father passed away within months of her arrival, so Trudy returned to Germany while her mother continued working in New York City. Trudy grew up with caring relatives in pre-war Munich, Germany.

With WWII approaching, her mother brought Trudy back to New York in 1938. She attended grade school in Manhattan and high school in Astoria, Queens. Always an excellent student, she won a citywide essay contest in high school and met Eleanor Roosevelt at the awards ceremony.

After graduation, Trudy moved to Manhattan and took secretarial classes while living in a women-only boarding house on the Upper West Side. She found work in the steno pool at a large shipping company and moved to Greenwich Village (where she briefly adopted the beatnik lifestyle), and later Staten Island (where she learned to drive in her mid-twenties).

Trudy advanced in her career to become the leasing manager at the London Towers Apartments on 23rd Street, Manhattan. Here she met her future husband Arthur, who had come to her office seeking an apartment. He clearly found more than he had bargained for!

Trudy and Arthur were married in August,1956. Arthur had always dreamed of building his own business, so the newlyweds moved to New Orleans, LA to open “TruArt”, a seafood processing company. Arthur Jr. arrived shortly thereafter, followed by sister Amy.

The family moved to Tampa, FL and St. Simons Island, GA, before eventually settling in Atlanta. Once Amy and Arthur reached high school age, Trudy returned to work and found her niche as Administrative Director of the English Department at Emory University. There she happily remained until her retirement in 1994.

Always glad to be learning, Trudy enrolled in college classes at Emory. Her proudest academic achievement was graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Emory in her fifties.

Upon retiring, Trudy remained active in the Emory community and cared for Arthur, who passed away in 2002. After his death, she concentrated on gardening, writing poetry, and helping raise and spoil her beloved granddaughters Hannah and Emma. She relished spending time with Amy and her husband Bob, Arthur and his fiancée Mary Lynn, granddaughter Hannah, granddaughter Emma, her husband Storm and their baby Slone.

Trudy remained in her home in Druid Hills for just under 50 years. Her family wishes to thank the caring staff at Accent Hospice of Cumming for their help, and Trudy’s many friends who called in her final days.