I met Ute in 1982 whilst I was in the Civil Service and went to Reading for a training course. She picked me up from the train station in her beloved duck! - the green 2CV.  Ute made me very welcome and as we got to know each other we would chat for hours in the evenings. I remember the painting of her family’s farmhouse - and the stories that went with it from WW2 and how they escaped the Nazis and the Russians. 
I stayed with Ute again in 1985 whilst on another training course. After that we kept in touch and my husband and I visited her 2/3 times over the years. I think it was 2005 when Ute ventured North to Liverpool to come and stay with us in Wirral. I loved that I could show her my home city and surrounding area. 
We last saw Ute about 4/5yrs ago- my husband and I stayed a night in Reading and arranged to call on Ute and take her out for an evening meal. However we spent so much time chatting in the afternoon that she felt too tired to go out, so we met the following morning for breakast at our hotel, then went for a walk on the riverbank. 
I will miss chatting with Ute - she was like my 2nd mum, not a landlady. She didn’t like me to tell work colleagues she was my landlady - I had to say she was my friend! I had never eaten spinach till I stayed with her! Now, every time I cook it, I think of Ute! She spent many years in pain after she fell out of the attic and although it frustrated her, she got on with life and didn’t let it stop her doing things. 
She was a kind and beautiful person, always thinking about and caring about others. Rest in peace, my dear friend xxx