Brigitta “Gitta” Maria Sedlacek Lehmann, 93, of Bay City, Texas, and New Braunfels, Texas, died May 10, 2026, at Sundance Health Center in New Braunfels, where she lived out the final chapter of her story and endeared herself to her caregivers.

She devoted her adult life to her husband, Rick, and their three sons, Rick, Mike, and Roland.

Born Oct. 12, 1932, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, Gitta was the oldest of three daughters of Karl and Mitzi Sedlacek. She immigrated to Kingsville, Texas, in 1956, and married Richard Karl “Rick” Lehmann of Karlsruhe, Germany, on July 13, 1957, in Alice, Texas. She was a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Bay City, Texas.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Rick Lehmann; her youngest son, Roland Lehmann; daughter-in-law, Karen Lehmann; her sister and brother-and-law, Edith and Gunther Erkeling; her parents, Karl and Mitzi Sedlacek; and her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Karl and Rosa Lehmann.

Gitta is survived by two sons, Richard Charles Lehmann (Ruth) of Broussard, Louisiana, and Michael Lehmann (Tracy) of New Braunfels, Texas; daughter-in-law, Amy Staples (Steven) of John’s Island, South Carolina; five grandchildren, Karl Lehmann of New Orleans, Louisiana; Kimberly Lanclos (Matthew) of Lafayette, Louisiana; Christopher Lehmann of Monterey, California; Nicholas Lehmann of New Braunfels, Texas; and Terence Lehmann of John’s Island, South Carolina; four great-grandchildren, Liam, Julianne, Diana, and R.J. Lanclos of Lafayette, Louisiana; and a nephew, Dieter Erkeling, of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Gitta’s 93 years were marked by challenges that, no doubt, shaped her grit, strength, and resilience. As a child, she adapted and overcame through the loss, violence, and uncertainty of the Great Depression and World War II. After the war, Gitta and her family rebuilt their life in Karlsruhe, Germany.

It was in Karlsruhe — a post-war hub for American troops — that she fell in love with swing dancing to the big band sounds of Glen Miller. It was also in Karlsruhe that she met a neighbor who would become her husband when she went to pick a tomato from her family’s small garden. A young German man riding by on his bicycle stopped to help her open a cantankerous gate. The two of them would make many memories and lasting friendships as they danced their way through more than six decades of marriage.

As a young woman expecting her first child, Gitta left behind her fiancé, parents, and sisters to find new opportunity in the United States. She boarded a cargo ship alone and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Ellis Island, New York. From there, she traveled by train to Kingsville, Texas. For a girl who had spent her teen years in the Black Forest of Germany, the new land of cowboys, scorching heat, and pancake-flat landscapes, could not have been more foreign.

There, she honed her English, soaked up American culture, and learned to care for her newborn son with the guidance of the Fowler family, parents of an American soldier she befriended while working at the U.S. Army base in Karlsruhe.

That German man on the bicycle joined Gitta in Kingsville, they married in 1957 and began writing the American chapter of their lives. In 1964, they moved with their three young boys to Bay City for Rick’s job. They bought the home where they raised their family and where she lived until her move to New Braunfels in 2024.

Gitta’s life in Bay City included work at Etie’s Cafe, Gibson’s, and Rick’s Electronics while raising her sons. With each job, she proved herself a quick learner, and — in keeping with her expectations for speck-free, German-style housekeeping — she admonished more than one customer to wipe their feet.

She enjoyed traveling with her husband, dancing with the Guys and Dolls Dance Club, bouquets, and the more-than-occasional glass of Chardonnay.

If she knew you, she always remembered your birthday and wedding anniversary, likely with a hand-written note in a card. If you were ever seated near her, you learned how fond she was of sharing photos of her grandchildren.

Gitta’s loved ones will miss her proud, strong, and gracious nature. They will celebrate her life at 10 a.m. May 26 at St. Peter Lutheran Church, 3000 Ninth St., Bay City, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, please honor Gitta with memorials to St. Peter Lutheran Church in Bay City or the charity of your choice.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Sundance Health Center in New Braunfels for the care and attention they provided, particularly in Gitta’s final days.