Nov. 21, 2006 Sursee, Switzerland

Anja Schaebe, Iris and Borge Schantz/ANN Staff

At 72 years old, she lies in a hospice wasting away from the debilitating effects of cancer that daily ravages her brain, breast and lungs. For most people the last thing on their minds would be school. But not Wilma Gramkow. Despite her fading health, she successfully defended her doctoral thesis in a hospice a few weeks ago.

Some would say that Wilma has lived a full life. Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1934, she experienced the Second World War and the extensive bombardments of Hamburg in 1943. As a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, she did mission work with her family in Africa and the Middle East. She has also written extensively and has worked at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and served as dean for international women students at Marienhöhe College in Darmstadt, Germany. She went on to receive her Masters in education in 1987 and was accepted as a doctoral student at the renowned Hamburg University.

Wilma’s doctoral dissertation was on the Herder Institute, an East German enterprise to teach the German language in connection with German embassies until the reunification of Germany in 1989. 

In the beginning of 2000, doctors discovered in Wilma the first sign of breast cancer. The often-fatal disease continued spreading through her body as time passed. But even during chemotherapy, she never gave up the wish to receive her doctorate. Under the care of her daughter, Wilma continued her research and writing while also serving as elder for Luzern Seventh-day Adventist church.

More than a year ago, she had to give up all her assignments outside the home. However, the work on the dissertation—her life’s work—continued. Just this June Wilma had to be admitted into the hospital in Luzern because she was just too weak to continue living at home. By then, she had completed her dissertation. Her daughter submitted the final draft to her “Doktor-Vater” at the University of Hamburg in August.

Wilma’s health was seriously failing and her death was imminently expected. But through the constant care and daily visits by her daughter and her family and the prayers of all her friends throughout the world, she regained strength and was admitted to a nursing home at the end of June.

Despite her improvement, Wilma’s physical weakness at this stage made it impossible for her to travel the more than 800 km (500 miles) to Hamburg to defend her dissertation.

After some intense pleas and negotiations, her daughter Anja succeeded in getting the university council to accept that the four designated professors would fly to Zürich and then travel by car to Luzern where they would preside over Wilma’s defense. The offer from Wilma’s family to pay for the expenses was graciously turned down. All the costs for traveling were covered by the university. Defending a thesis in a hospice was a first in the history of the University of Hamburg that dates as far back as 1919.

On the afternoon of Friday, November 10, the four professors met Wilma in a room at the hospice and went through the final extensive procedures required for the acceptance of her doctoral dissertation. Wilma’s defense was somewhat shortened due to her limited physical abilities.

Following the procedures, the four German professors left the room for their evaluation. They returned to Wilma, shook her hand and simply said: “Herzlichen Glückwunsch Frau Dr. Wilma Gramkow” (Mrs. Dr. Wilma Gramkow: Congratulations).

On the following day, a Sabbath, family, friends and fellow-believers celebrated with Wilma and shared in her happiness.

Her daughter, Anja, says, “She is very weak and I do not think she has a lot of time left, but she is very happy to have made it. Her goal after she received her doctorate was to work on short projects in foreign countries. This is not possible, but we are all very proud of her.”

Comments (0)