Waltraud Alice Baecker

Waltraud “Walli” Baecker (Mittelbach) Waltraud “Walli” Baecker, age 91, passed away October 19, 2022 following several years of illness. Waltraud was born in Braunschweig, Germany in 1931 to Johanna (Bernhardt) and Ludwig Mittelbach, and had one older sister, Inge. As a teenager, Walli suffered many losses during World War II, including her father, several friends, many uncles, her home and even her pet dog “Cheri. ” Her city was nearly firebombed out of existence, and most of us know the rest of the war story. But, with the help of friends in her swimming club, and her rise up the ranks of the German table-tennis world (Including her invitation to join a private tennis club), her post-war life was filled with many joys. She worked several secretarial and court reporting jobs, and looked for fun with her friends wherever she could find it. She was married to Heinz Baecker on July 5, 1957, and shortly thereafter, she gave birth to her daughter Annette. In 1959, with Heinz accepting a job in Winnipeg, Canada, Walli reluctantly agreed to make the move to North America. With daughter Annette in tow, Walli navigated her new life in Winnipeg, only to be uprooted again for Heinz’s new job in rural North Carolina, followed quickly by another career move to Minneapolis (Robbinsdale) in 1962. Her first jobs in Minneapolis included brief stints at the University of Minnesota and Carlson Companies. In early 1964, son Joachim “Jo” was born. After that, Walli was a long-term employee at Ault, Incorporated, rising up the ranks to the position of Controller. During this time, she enrolled at Metropolitan State University and earned an accounting degree in 1976, while also helping support husband Heinz in his own new engineering company, Codema, Inc. Walli often mentioned she was homesick for Germany, and to resolve that issue, the family traveled to Germany every-other year to visit family for several months during the summer. Because German was always spoken at home, there were never any language issues with Annette and Jo during those visits. In other years, Walli often brought her sister “Inge” and her mom to Minnesota to stay for the summer. And if it wasn’t family, it was members of the swim team, the tennis club, or other relatives who were excited to see America for the first time. In 1979, Walli, alongside daughter Annette, founded Bon Voyage Travel and its corporate division Results Marketing Incentives, which quickly became one of the largest travel agencies in the region in the mid 1980’s, including two offices in the MSP metro area and one near San Diego, California. This business was later sold to the Rudy Luther group, and Walli took an early retirement. Even though Walli shared her love for table tennis and tennis with her kids, she wasn’t afraid to learn new things, like water skiing and golf. After retiring, she played golf often in local leagues, and loved playing while at her Cancun timeshare. She was also quite an accomplished accordionist, which meant that no party had to suffer for lack of music. She was a fan of Classic movies and musicals, especially The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. In her final months, she would insist on watching Sound of Music in her bedroom to help her fall asleep. Walli loved dogs, and owned two of them in the 70’s—Sam and Boots. After it became difficult to care for her own dogs, she really enjoyed other people’s dogs, often feeding them under the dinner table, even when we told her “no. ” The last five to ten years were difficult, since most of Walli’s contacts were built through sporting activities, and gradually, physical limitations kept her from participating, not to mention that she had outlived nearly all of her friends. Both Annette and I had promised that we wouldn’t ask mom to go into a nursing home, which meant that we spent a lot of time with her in those final years. And in that time, we managed to discuss many things, bring up and share old memories, and to make tough decisions that were looming. The biggest decision was to sell the Crystal, MN house—a home they had occupied for 57 years—and purchase a winter home in Palm Springs, California. And it’s in Palm Springs where Walli Baecker took her last breath. A 91-year run that spanned an ocean and a language, and numerous challenges. In the end, everything that needing saying was said, and what needed doing was done. She “died empty,” as they say, leaving no regrets and nothing unfinished. That’s how we choose to remember her. Walli is survived by her husband, Heinz Baecker, daughter Annette Walbon (Scott Nelson), son Joachim Baecker (Juli), Grandchildren Dustin Walbon, Andrew Walbon, Stephanie Walbon (Jordan Allen), step-grandchildren Brent Nelson, Bryan Nelson, Andrew Nelson, Nick Johnson (Natasha), Zack Johnson (Chiara), Mari De Tora (Giuseppe) as well as Great-grandchildren Cayo, Ryder and Coen. Sister-in-law Marlene Baecker & family, plus remaining family in Braunschweig and Lüdenscheid, Germany. An open-house celebration of life will be held Sat, Nov 26 from 2:30-6:30 (time of remembrance at 4:30) at: Royal Golf Club, 11455 20th St N, Lake Elmo, MN. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to Cairn Rescue or the dog rescue of your choice. We are happy to hear from you. Annette Walbon awalbon@comcast. net 651-248-4430 Joachim “Jo” Baecker jobaecker@gmail. com 612-618-5347