Gerhard Waldmann

Gerhard Waldmann, of New York, NY, passed away on June 30th, 2023 at the age of 85. He was born on June 16th, 1938 in Stuttgart, Germany. He was the oldest of four children, followed by Herbert, Anne-Marie, and Rose-Marie.

Gerhard is survived by his brother, Herbert, his son Christopher, his daughter-in-law Rachel, and his two granddaughters, Mirai and Nara. He is preceded in death by his parents, Karl Waldmann and Maria Katharina (Schüssleder) Waldamnn, his sisters Anne-Marie and Rose-Marie and most recently, his late wife, Leilanie Waldmann, his wife of 43 years.

His father was an architect/geometer, and his mother was a musician who played the sitar. His father played a huge part in rebuilding Stuttgart after the war, helping to build and design the roads, hospitals, schools and other buildings. His mother taught music to young kids and performed in theaters and restaurants in Germany. Stuttgart an industrial town, home to Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW, Audi and Bayer, was a huge target during the war. This led to an evacuation order where they would go a town called Tuttlingen, south of Stuttgart.

Gerhard would go on to complete a Certificate in Business Administration and study at the University of Frieburg. He was studying to be journalist, but only completed several semesters before deciding to travel and explore other countries, especially France, Italy, Spain, Egypt and Morocco.

Gerhard would eventually find his way to New York, where he arrived with a suitcase and a few hundred dollars. His first job was working at a department store called Bancroft where he sold men’s shirts, ties and accessories. This allowed him to build up his wardrobe at a discount. “The clothes make the man, not the brand…” as he would always say. Several years later, he decided to work in the restaurant industry. With his strong work ethic, attention to detail, speaking three languages fluently (German, French and English), and his ability to relate to his customers and colleagues, he quickly moved up the ranks in various establishments from busboy, waiter, host, captain, Maitre’d, assistant manager and eventually general manager.

Some of the restaurants he worked since 1972 were The Camelot Restaurant (73rd

/3rd – now Dallas BBQ), The Hotel St. Regis, The Chateau Richelieu, The New Yorker, The Copper Hatch Restaurant and Veselka. He loved working in the restaurant industry and had fond memories of everyplace he ever worked at. His bosses, colleagues and customers admired and respected him. He encountered a wide range of clientele over the years. Some of those clients politicians including governors, senators, mayors, commissioners, also so many actors and actresses, athletes, artists and much more.

When he wasn’t working, he loved taking his family on 2-4 week vacations. He loved travelling to the Caribbean Islands, Southern France and Florida. Then he also enjoyed the occasional summer road trips to Virginia Beach, Cape Cod and The Catskills. He loved Aruba so much, with his late wife, they made almost 30 trips to Aruba over the years.

He always enjoyed spending time with his family, and on occasion, would love hosting dinner parties and having friends over. He enjoyed taking us to Broadway Shows, watching sports, various sitcoms, game shows, and true crime/law enforcement shows.

He loved the classic movies, Casablanca, Some Like It Hot, La Cage Aux Folles, Singin’ In The Rain, to name a few. As far as music, he loved Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, André Rieu and Andrea Bocelli. In his later years, he was often spotted walking around the Upper East Side making his rounds at all his favorite stores.

To his family, he was a loving husband, father, father-in-law and grandfather. He will be missed by all. Now, he is at peace and has been reunited with his late wife.

Rest peacefully.

I LOVE YOU DAD!

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Gerhard's memory may be made to a charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.walterbcooke.net for the Waldmann family.