Waltraud Elkins, 79, died Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at the Life Care Center of Richland from complications of cancer. She was born September 2, 1933 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, to Franziska and Ernst Schroeder. It was there that she fell in love with her future husband, George Duey Elkins. He brought her to his home in Fort Worth, Texas where they were married on November 30, 1958. Soon thereafter, her mother came to live with her and help her transition into her new life in America. After passing her citizenship test and giving birth to a daughter, she moved with her family to Dolton, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois where she stayed 25 years. After her husbands' death in 1987, she and her mother moved to Houston, Texas and later Kennewick, Washington to be near her daughter's family. Val, as she was known to her friends, loved to travel, managing to visit nearly every state in the US in her life time. She loved long walks along the ocean collecting sea shells and maintained beautiful gardens at each of the homes she lived in. She especially cherished her friendships with members of the Rambling Rovers, German Club, and her Bunko group. She will be buried next to her mother in Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Kennewick in a private ceremony witnessed by her survivors, daughter Margaret Romine and husband Robert and their children Joshua and Kyle.