Born: 20 May 1909, Ricketts, IA
Married: 8 Aug 1953, Eagle Bend, MN
Died: 17 Jan 1998, Sioux City, IA
Buried: Trysil-Bethesda cemetery, Holmes City twp, MN
Spouse: Odella Solheim
Newspaper Obituary: Sioux City Journal, January 19, 1998
Leonhard E Baak, 88, of Sioux City died Saturday, Jan 17, 1998, at
a Sioux City hospital following a lengthy illness.
Services will be at 2pm Tuesday at Redeemer Lutheran Church, with the
Rev Paul G Sieveking officiating. Graveside services will be at 11am
Wednesday in Trysil Bethesda Cemetery at Farwell, Minn, with military
rites conducted by the Gust F Holden American Legion Post 253.
Visitation will be from 3 to 8:30pm today, with the family present from
7 to 8:30pm, at Christy, Smith and Hockenberry Funeral Home.
Mr Baak was born May 20, 1909, in Ricketts, Iowa, the son of William F
and Clara (Wendt) Baak. He was raised in Ricketts and graduated from
Ute (Iowa) High School in 1927. He operated the Ricketts Grocery Store.
He graduated from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, where he
received his teaching degree.
He married Odella Solheim on Aug 8, 1953, in Eagle Bend, Minn. He
taught school in Shelby, SD for two years. He was then the principal in
Harmony, Minn, for a few years. He received his master’s degree from
Colorado College and University of South Dakota. In 1953, he received
his doctorate from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo.
He was a language instructor at St Olaf College for five years, then
became the head of the language department at Emporia College in
Emporia, Kan. He taught at the Graduate College at Colorado College
from 1955 to 1963, in the summer months. In 1960, he moved to Sioux
City and became the chairman of Modern Language Division at Morningside College and head of the German department and taught German language.
He retired in 1974, but continued teaching some until 1982. He was a
volunteer teacher at Lutheran High School in North Sioux City for two
years and tutored in his home.
He served in the U S Army during World War II.
Survivors include his wife(Odella) and two cousins and their families.
He was preceded in death by a brother, Clarence.