Funeral Details

Nora Ally Lotti Bendfeldt was born as the first child to Marga Bendfeldt (maiden name Meyer) and Frowald Bendfeldt on September 30, 1949 in Dahme, Ostholstein, Germany. Dahme is a former fishing village on the Baltic Sea Coast in northern Germany, known now mainly by tourists for its small town summertime allure, sandy beaches and shopping promenade.

Nora completed basic schooling in Dahme, and at the age of 16, realizing that small town life wasn’t for her, relocated to Berlin to begin nursing school. She lived with her beloved Aunt Lotti (Charlotte) Metzenthin, who showed her the wonders and beauty of the city—museums, music, opera, theater—things that left a lasting impression on young Nora.

She completed nursing school and received her full nursing license at age 21. She loved the work and the increased independence gained by earning good wages, and began her travels. At first she traveled to Tunisia, Greece and closer European countries like France and the Netherlands. In Tunisia the idea of a woman traveling alone was so unusual that groups of men insisted on accompanying her, which she at first rejected and then accepted, her first confrontation with the significance of cultural differences that were to be appreciated and explored.

In her early 20’s she began to set her sights on university study. She decided to pursue ethnology, the study of other cultures. But first she needed to complete the Abitur, the German equivalent of a high school degree that permitted application to the university. She worked her nursing job during the day and attended evening high school classes for three years. At age 27 she applied and was accepted as a student at the Freie Universität Berlin as a student of ethnology and Latin American Studies. Learning Spanish was a requirement of that program, which she wholeheartedly embraced. Her parents questioned the wisdom of her wish to pursue academic work, reminding her that nursing was a perfectly adequate way to make a living.

Before officially beginning her studies, in 1977 she traveled to the United States to explore that country, alone, her only accompaniment a 40-pound backpack. She spent 6 months there, primarily in places like Colorado, New Mexico and California. This trip expanded her appreciation of all things American, particularly the cultural diversity, the independent mindedness, the music, the art. During this trip she connected closely in Colorado with a person she had met only fleetingly in Berlin, her future husband David Pankratz.

The following year David obtained a scholarship to study in Regensburg, a city in southern Germany. That year Nora and David reunited frequently, but it was very difficult to make the journey back and forth from Regensburg to Berlin due to the division of the country and having to pass through two East German border controls. During this Cold War period, Berlin (then West Berlin) was a political island, situated in the middle of East Germany, occupied by the three western powers of Britain, France and the U.S.

In the spring of 1979, David decided to join Nora for a one month Spanish program in Barcelona. That experience confirmed their determination to stay together. Later that year they decided to ease and cement their relationship by living together in Berlin.

Their time in Berlin was marked by both study and travel, in spite of the challenges associated with constant border crossings. Some travel was for enjoyment, such as a trip to the island of Crete, Greece. Much travel was coupled with study, such as Nora’s stay in Santander, Spain to further improve her Spanish, and Nora’s 6-month residence in Columbia, South America to conduct research for her Master’s Degree. There she studied the small town of San Basilio de Palenque, a unique village founded by runaway slaves who had resisted colonialization.

Nora and David resided together in Berlin for four years and married there in a civil ceremony on May 19, 1983. On June 12 they married again in a church in the Rheinland Palatinate, a tiny village named Maikammer. Guests were hosted by their close friends the Schäffer family, who were local winemakers, and the wedding gave all four of their parents a chance to meet.

Later that year David left Germany to pursue a Master’s degree in Chicago, Illinois, and Nora followed and met him there in 1984 after completion of her Master’s Degree in Berlin. Two children were born to them in Chicago, Lena Marie Pankratz and Kolya Alexander Pankratz. German was spoken at home, and then English was gradually incorporated as the children began interacting with other English speaking children. Nora took great pride in enrolling them in Chicago’s public school Inter-American Magnet School, where instruction in all subjects took place in Spanish and English. Spanish was reinforced by the dear Rios family who lived downstairs in the same house.

Nora adored Chicago due to both its cultural richness and the proximity to Lake Michigan, which reminded her of her beloved Baltic Sea. Nora and David made it a priority to provide their children with many opportunities for learning and fun both in and outside of the city. This included outings to parks, the beach, museums, concerts, puppet shows, street festivals, handicraft classes such as Clay for Kids, soccer lessons, piano lessons, singing and camping trips almost annually to Apple River Canyon State Park in northwestern Illinois.
The family traveled at least once yearly to either Colorado or Germany to reconnect with relatives and friends. Finances were tight, but travel, something that was formative to Nora and David early in their relationship, was deemed important for everyone.

Apart from the demands of family life, Nora also engaged enthusiastically in community work. She joined a committee formed by a neighbor to research approaches to bring a playground to the area, something sorely missing. In conjunction with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, she and other volunteers worked tirelessly to advocate with the city and the local alderman for creation of a green space and playground for young children. After nearly two years of door to door consensus building and many nighttime meetings, the group successfully convinced the city to use an abandoned parking lot on Kimball Avenue near Diversey Avenue for this purpose. The city prepared the lot and gave the equipment for a playground under the condition that the volunteers do all the labor to lay the sod, mulch and install the equipment. The committee rounded up enough additional volunteers and the result was the creation of Unity Playlot. Mission accomplished. Nora was very proud of this work, and all the children and families in the neighborhood benefitted greatly. In subsequent years Unity Park was expanded multiple times.

Once the children began schooling, Nora recognized that obtaining an American nursing license would be the best career move. But first she had to take additional nursing classes and pass both the state and federal nursing exams, which required several years of study wedged into her busy family life. Her first nursing jobs were part-time. When the children were older, Nora began full time work, but always on a schedule that was different than David’s and allowed them to spend much time with Lena and Kolya. She worked at Illinois Masonic Hospital (general hospital nursing), Vencor Hospital (respiratory care), Northwestern Faculty Medical Foundation (cardiology), Northshore Kellog Cancer Center (neuro-oncology) and ended her nursing career working at the Felician Sisters Convent, caring for the retired Roman Catholic nuns who resided there. It was a poignant way to end her career; she had been taught nursing at a school run by Catholic nuns nearly 50 years prior in West Berlin.

Nora remained a German citizen but also became a U.S. citizen in 2015. This was encouraged by family and friends, something she finally agreed was a good idea.

Shortly after her retirement in 2016, she was consumed with travel back and forth to Germany to care for her ailing mother and attend to the house and its contents, quite a major challenge. Dear German friends were indispensable to the completion of this work. In 2019, just a few years after retiring from nursing, she was diagnosed with cancer and became a patient at the same clinic where she had previously worked as a cancer nurse.

In spite of her illness and the onslaught of difficult but very helpful medical treatments, Nora embraced every available moment to spend time with her family and friends. She took great delight in helping Lena and Chris upon the birth of her grandson Theo, and spending many happy times with him and the family—outings to the beach in Chicago, trips to Wisconsin and Michigan, or just picking him up at his daycare center and reading books to him, usually in German, in the car on the ride home. In 2023 she and her Chicago family enjoyed an extensive and beautiful trip to Germany to visit relatives and friends.

Nora remained unwavering in her ability to stay in touch with distant relatives and older friends, and she never stopped making new friends due to her attentive ear and personal interest in their families and their stories. She was an excellent listener, never afraid to ask the hard questions, and had a remarkable ability to remember most of what people told her about their loved ones.

As she became increasingly ill due to her cancer, her family dedicated themselves fully to her well-being, something she appreciated and cherished. Dozens of friends, including many former nursing colleagues, spent much time with her as her illness progressed. She remained upbeat and good natured even as her treatments became increasingly less effective. She passed into the light very peacefully in the comfort of her home with her husband and children by her side on November 11, 2025.

Her beaming smile, strong will, resoluteness, boundless energy, devotion to her family and her genuine interest in others will be greatly missed.

Nora is survived by her grieving husband David Pankratz, daughter Lena Pankratz, son-in-law Christopher Baxter and grandson Theo Baxter, son Kolya Pankratz, all of whom reside in Chicago, Illinois, and sister Martina Bendfeldt who resides in Hamburg, Germany. Previously deceased are her parents and her sisters Doris Bendfeldt (in infancy) and Kerstin Bendfeldt.

Cremation will occur at Midtown Funeral Home. A memorial service will take place at the funeral home on December 7, 2025 at 2pm.

Family requests that people wishing to make donations in her memory make them to organizations of their choice in honor of Nora’s interests in education, health and justice. She herself was a lifelong contributor to Doctors Without Borders and Chicago Food Depository.

Arrangements by Midtown Funeral Home and Cremation Options, 773.654.3744, www.midtownfunerals.com