Walter Baade
October 15, 2007

Interment: Good Hope Lutheran Cemetery ~ Titonka, Iowa

Walter Fredrick Baade, the son of Dietrick and Marie (Plasier) Baade, was born on January 21, 1922, near Woden, Iowa. He attended German Township School #6 and worked for Hank Plasier in German Valley prior to enlisting in the US Army in 1942. Walt served as a technical sergeant in Europe in World War II and returned home in 1946. In June 1997, he received a gold medal from the French government for his particpation in the Liberation.

Upon returning from the service, Walt ran the Standard Oil Station in Wesley. Walter and Mary Lee Cole were married July 3, 1955 in Burt, Iowa. They lived in Titonka, Iowa, where they raised their two daughters. After his marriage, Walt ran a repair shop in Titonka with his brother Alfred until 1966. He also drove school bus for the Titonka Consolidated School system. Walt worked for North Central Public Gas Service Company for 20 years until his retirement in 1986. His community service included serving on the council of Good Hope Lutheran Church, mayor of Titonka for 8 years, member of the ambulance crew, and 30 years as a volunteer on the Titonka Fire Department, the last three as Fire Chief. A favorite activity of his was traveling and camping with his family, collecting rocks and gemstones, and making these into jewelry. Walt also enjoyed doing stained glass work and wood carving and was an officer of the North Iowa Wood Carvers.

Walt died on Monday, October 15, 2007, at the Hancock County Memorial Hospital in Britt, Iowa. He was 85.

Walt is survived by his wife of 52 years, Mary Lee Baade of Titonka; two daughters, Jean Goetz and her husband Gary of Wesley, Iowa and LeAnn Weih and her husband Peter Summers of Lubbock, Texas; four grandchildren, Cole and Sarah Weih, and Reid, and Cody Goetz; five sisters, Irene Baker and her husband Don of Belmont, California, Louise Goetch of Hemit, California , Mary Ann Tryon and her husband Stanley of Reeds Springs, Missouri, Alvina Bierstedt and her husband Max of Denver, Colorado, and JoAnn Asa of Jackson, Minnesota; two brothers Raymond and his wife Thresa and Alfred and his wife Phyllis both of Titonka, Iowa; and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, an infant sister, three nephews and a niece.

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