Obituary for Tanja Kushewa Schlaile

Tanja Kushewa Schlaile

Tanja Kushewa Schlaile, 88, of Polson, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at Littleton Adventist Hospital in Littleton, Colo.

She was born Jan. 16, 1926 in Belarus (White Russia), the youngest of three sisters. Tanja grew up in an eight-house village in Belarus until the age of 17 when she was taken by the Germans into Germany during World War II.  She is a survivor of both Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps.  She met her husband, Erich G. Schlaile in Garmisch, Germany, and they married on Nov. 13, 1948.  Their marriage lasted over 61 years.

They moved to New York until Erich was discharged from the military in 1949.

After that time, Tanja lived in Randallstown and Edgewood, Md. as well as a year in Oklahoma until moving to Pasadena, Texas in 1959. Tanja was a member of the Church of Christ.  She loved her church family—in Maryland, Texas, and Montana.  She was a homemaker and later worked as a part-time waitress and in a bridal shop for several years in Pasadena.

After the children left home, for 22 years Erich and Tanja traveled from Texas to Maryland to care for the family fruit orchard from March until the harvest was finished in the fall.  While in Maryland, she also worked in a floral shop arranging flowers she loved so much.  When they finally retired, they stayed in Texas full-time and then later moved to Polson in 2003. Tanja’s joy in life was her family—especially her grandchildren and great-grandson, Tyler, her “little sunshine.”  She loved gardening, cooking, and baking and playing games with family and friends. Tanja is preceded in death by her parents, two sisters, and beloved husband.

She is survived by her three children: Tim Schlaile and his wife, Patricia of Gaithersburg, Md., Tanja Abraham and her husband Roger of Littleton, Colo., Tina Schlaile of Polson and Santa Rosa, Calif.  She is also survived by three grandchildren: Natasha McClay and her husband, Robert and their son Tyler of Littleton, Colo., Corrina and Serena Schlaile of San Francisco. Tanja’s memorial service will be March 21, at 10 a.m. at the Mission Valley Church of Christ in Polson.