Waltraut "Val" Clark

Waltraut “Val” Clark was a lifelong fighter and survivor, lessons first learned as a child in Germany during World War II. On September 21, 2015, she lost life’s final battle after three years of fighting colon cancer as she passed away in her Olympia, Washington home, with her husband, Mike, at her side. Her legacy and positive outlook on life will be remembered by all who knew and loved her. Waltraut was born to Hermann Otto Baltutt and Gertrud Jakumeit, in Osterode, East Prussia, Germany, on December 6, 1940, about a year after World War II had begun. Shortly after she turned four, Waltraut, her parents and three older sisters were forced to flee their home just ahead of the advancing Soviet Army as it invaded Germany from the east. They were overtaken in the town of Prussian Holland (today in Poland). They lived in abandoned buildings, and foraged for food wherever they could find it. They eventually settled into an old furniture store and workshop with residence on the second floor. A few days after finding this shelter, they learned it was the last day for Germans to register with Soviet authorities. Failure to do so would result in summary execution. The parents reported to the Soviets for registration but never returned home to their children, being transported instead to Russia to serve as forced laborers. Waltrut and her sisters, age four to ten, were left alone to fend for themselves for nine months. The two oldest sisters, Edith and Rita, went out daily to find whatever food they could to bring home to the younger girls, Irmgard and Waltraut. The girls learned of a train that was to take all remaining German nationals out of Poland and into Communist-occupied Germany. They were given shelter in an orphanage, and had regular food and medical attention. During their first year in East Berlin, the four sisters lived with four different families, but later the couple that had taken in Waltraut also ended up taking in two of her older sisters as well. But because this couple treated the girls simply as a resource, feeding them poorly while reserving the best food for themselves, the oldest sister eventually rebelled. She went to the child welfare office in East Berlin to complain, which led to official efforts to locate surviving relatives of the sisters. When these were found, the three sisters were placed with them instead. The fourth sister preferred to remain with her original foster parents, since they treated and loved her like a daughter. In early fall of 1948, Waltraut’s mother managed to return from Russia after three and a half years of strenuous labor. (It is assumed that her father died in the Russian labor camps.) Over time, the family was reunited. After the three older sisters moved out and got married, Waltraut and her mother walked across the East Berlin border into West Berlin border for a “shopping trip,” with only the clothes they were wearing and a small amount of money. If they had carried more, it is likely that the East German border guards would suspect they were trying to flee the Communist “paradise” of East Germany and arrest them. Waltraut lived with her mother in various refugee camps for several years until they finally settled in Ulm, West Germany. It was in Ulm that she met and married an American serviceman, Kenneth Cooper, and moved to the United States. Over the years they had seven children: Frank, Peter, Eric, Burt, Isaac, Angela, and Ben. Waltraut became an American citizen in 1966, and in that same year was baptized into her husband’s church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After her marriage to Kenneth ended in divorce in 1978, in August of 1980, she married Michael L. Clark, also a soldier at the time, and three further children resulted from this marriage: David, Daniel and Nathan. She now had two stepchildren, Jason and Melissa, from Mike’s previous marriage. Upon Mike’s honorable discharge from the military in 1983, the family moved to Washington and took up residence in Olympia, which is where most of her children grew up. In 2012, it was discovered that Waltraut had Stage 2 colon cancer. After due consideration of the medical treatment options, she decided that she would pursue alternative healing methods, which she did for two and a half years. In April 2015, she became very sick and tests showed that the cancer had spread until it was too far advanced, and that even aggressive conventional treatment would have little or no chance of extending her life. Very soon after this prognosis was made, an impromptu family reunion occurred, and all of Waltraut’s children from far and wide ended up at the family home in Olympia, within a two-week period. Six months later, on September 21, 2015, Waltraut ended her battles at age of 74. She is survived by her three sisters, her husband, ten children, two stepchildren, and 13 grandchildren. One granddaughter preceded her in death. She will be remembered in love and admiration. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to LDS Humanitarian Services at http://www.lds.org/topics/humanitarian-service?lang=eng, or a charity of your choice. Please leave memories of Waltraut or condolences for her family in the Guestbook below.