Connie Bauer

The last thing Connie Bauer G-ma to her family would have wanted was for anyone to fret or fuss over these final words to remember her life. She would have demanded brevity, clarity, and humility. But now that she is gone, we take this moment to celebrate freely what an amazing wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great-great grandmother and friend she was for all 85 of her well-lived years. Connie passed away peacefully Friday, November 28, in Fergus Falls, MN, surrounded by family.

Constance Ann Rath was born in Long Lake, SD, on September 8, 1929 to Jacob and Anna Klooz Rath. She attended rural school and graduated from Eureka High School in 1946. She joked that her class was so small that she was both the Homecoming Queen and Valedictorian of her graduating class.

She married Stan Bauer on June 6, 1948 and they moved to Aberdeen, SD, to start their life together. In 1951, they continued on to Moorhead, MN, where they raised their three daughters in rapid succession. As time passed, their little family grew to include ten grandchildren, sixteen great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren—all of whom she held close and dear.

During their time in Moorhead, Connie and Stan were active and involved members of the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. They joined the church at its origination and both served in many capacities over the years.

Connie was always the true center of her family—organizing countless family gatherings with military precision but peppered with her amazing, dry and witty sense of humor. These gatherings were often homages to her German-Russian heritage, where she would prepare such potato-centric delicacies as “Schupfie Soup” and “Strudels”, with “Kuchen” for dessert.

Once clean-up was completed to her stringent standards and the food was all put away into masking-taped, Sharpie-labeled Tupperware containers, the games would begin. Connie was a card shark by any standards, and won the game she was playing most of the time. Though patient with her bevy of grandchildren, no one would ever accuse Connie of letting anyone else win.

One of her many loves in later years as seen on the picture was ‘ice cream’. When driving home from dinner with family, Abby suggested stopping at the Dairy Queen for ice cream. JoAnne said “isn’t it too cold for ice cream?” to which mom replied “it’s NEVER too cold for ice cream!”

She enjoyed listening to, playing, and singing music with anyone willing to join in—and had a special love of choral and holiday music. She also meticulously maintained the photo albums and audio recordings that will forever incriminate her entire family for every embarrassing phase or outfit.

After Stan’s debilitating stroke in 1990, Connie stepped in and managed their life together with grace and strength until his death in 1998. Though she constantly battled crippling back pain and arthritis, she never once let any of these struggles slow her down.

Connie enjoyed the lifelong friends and friendships acquired during her sixty-plus years in Moorhead. She was the first to offer a hand when needed, and was comforted and embraced by these same friends in her time of need.

Connie is survived by three daughters, Jan Jerry Varns, Durham, NC, Joyce Joe Lightowler, West Fargo, ND, JoAnne Mark Kiefer, Fergus Falls, MN; ten grandchildren; sixteen great grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; her sister Dianne Mike Gaschler, Salt Lake City, UT; one niece and two nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Stan, and her parents.

Connie will be buried next to her beloved husband at Evergreen Cemetery. Though this whole celebration of her life would certainly garner a stern glance from Connie—we know there would also be, as always, a twinkle in her eyes.

The song is ended, but the melody lingers on…
Irving Berlin