Amalie Oesterle

Amalie Oesterle, age 90, completed her final chapter of an amazing, intriguing and full life on April 26th, 2026.

She was born in a turbulent time of history on November 14, 1935 in Bad-Mergentheim, Germany to Konrad Betz and Walburga Appel Betz. She kept as much of a normal childhood as possible by learning gymnastics as she advanced in her Olympic level studies, she passed and taught that knowledge to the younger children in her hometown. As she grew into her later teen years, after liberation by the allied forces, she was employed as an au pair for an US army colonel and also as an interpreter. She had her one and only son, in the spring of 1952, and by 1955 they immigrated to Belleville, WV with her husband Robert C. Petty. Once stateside, and living the American dream, she pursued a career as a fitness instructor at the YMCA. She enjoyed bowling, gardening, square-dancing, organizing and keeping things tidy. She married her 2nd husband, Richard Oesterle Sr. in 1986, and they lived a full life together until he was taken by Alzheimer’s in 1993. From then on, she remained unmarried and continued to enjoy life, everything from bowling tournaments across the country, square-dancing from the Mid-Ohio Valley to Florida, where she resided in winter months for 32 years.

She leaves behind her Granddaughters, Nicole Sutton (Nic Starcher) and Tashina McCoskey (Shane); her great-grandson, Carter Sutton; her great-granddaughter, Madilyn McCroskey; many nieces and nephews; extended family in Germany; and so many friends that she gathered like a bouquet over 90 years.

Funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, May 1, 2026 at Lambert Tatman Funeral Home, Pike St., South Parkersburg. Interment will follow at Sunset Memory Gardens, in the Garden of Peace. Family will accept friends and loved ones from 11 a.m. until the time of service at the funeral home.

Lambert Tatman Funeral Homes are honored to serve the Oesterle family.