Mildred Anne Haabestad Wald
August 6, 1927 ~ October 17, 2021
Born in:
Springfield, PA
Resided in:
Black Mountain, NC
Mildred (Millie) Haabestad Wald, 94, passed away of natural causes in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She died peacefully in the Healthcare Center section of Givens Highland Farms. Mildred was predeceased by her husband of 65 years, William Wald, Jr., who passed away in Asheville in 2013.
Mildred was born in Springfield, Pennsylvania on August 6, 1927 to Erling Henry Haabestad and Myrlva Quinn Haabestad. She was one of four children. Mildred graduated from Springfield High School in 1945 and from Gettysburg College in 1949. She met her future husband, Bill, a US Army Veteran wounded in France and Germany during World War II, at Gettysburg College. They were married in 1948, and their first child, Jeffrey William, was born in 1950. They had three more children, Sandra Louise in 1951, David Bruce in 1956, and Eric Charles in 1960.
Millie and Bill raised their children in Glen Rock, NJ and Moorestown, NJ, where they lived until 1972. During that time, Bill was President of the Glen Rock Board of Education, where he led the building of a new High School. Millie was Town Librarian and a competitive tennis player in NJ state tournaments. In the 1970’s they moved south to pursue Bill’s business interests. After stints in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, they settled in Asheville in 1996 adjacent to the grounds of the Grove Park Inn.
Millie and Bill were members of the Asheville Country Club and the Unitarian Church of Asheville. When she moved to Black Mountain in 2014, Millie became a frequent worshipper at the Presbyterian Church and the Unitarian Church in Black Mountain.
Millie was predeceased by her parents and her older brother Erling Henry, and is survived by her sisters, Ruth Eleanor Streeter and Grace Velma Borgh. She is also survived by her four children, her three grandchildren Courtney Wald Wittkop, Michael Wald, and Justin Wald, and her five great grandchildren. Private Services will be held at the Western NC Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain, where Millie will be buried with Bill, on November 4, 2021 at 2 p.m.
Groce Funeral Home Tunnel Road is handling the final arrangements. Donations can be made to The Humane Society of the United States, to which Bill and Millie were benefactors.
Services
Private Service: November 4, 2021 2:00 pm
Western Carolina State Veteran's Cemetery
962 Old US Hwy 70
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828)669-0684
Funeral Home Assisting The Family:
Groce Funeral Home on Tunnel Road
856 Tunnel Rd.
Asheville, NC 28805
(828)299-4416
http://www.grocefuneralhome.com
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Thank you for the opportunity to care for your mother and you as her children these last few years at Highland Farms. I remember you all in my thoughts and prayers.