Walter Trach – Brooklyn Park, Minn., formerly of Monessen

Walter was born on May 4, 1948, in Regensburg, Germany, to Stefan and Helen Ciak Trach. They boarded the General C.C. Ballou on Sept. 26, 1949, and arrived Oct. 5, 1949, on Ellis Island. He grew up in Monessen, where he was a member of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church and learned traditional Ukrainian dances. He was the oldest of four children, John (Lizanne DeStefano) Trach, Luba (Bob) Vujcic and Stefan (Kathie) Trach. He studied at Penn State University, where he met his loving wife and best friend, Cathleen Lettieri, in 1969. They were married on April 26, 1975, and had four children, Michele (Jamie) Glood, Suzanne Trach, Walter (Melissa) Trach and Nicole Trach (Sonny Mouneu). He was multilingual and earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian and linguistics and a Master of Arts in Slovak languages and literature. He worked for the United Nations in New York City as a Russian translator. He shifted gears to another type of “language” and studied computer programming. He specialized in health care information systems and moved his family to Maryland in 1986 and then Minnesota in 1988. In his later years, he worked as a consultant, which allowed him to travel for work to many different areas of the country. He especially loved Pasadena, Calif., and was able to spend time with Nicole and Sonny. They granted him the unofficial title, “Mayor of Pasadena.” He enjoyed traveling, but equally loved spending time at his home of 33 years in Brooklyn Park, Minn. Walter loved his children and encouraged them to study and work hard. He cheered them on at swim meets, sporting events (soccer, softball, baseball) and musical performances. He helped them with their schoolwork, and mathematics was his forte. He was extremely proud of his children and their accomplishments, especially his nine grandchildren, who were all born within seven years. They all loved his mustache and his silly sense of humor. To say that Walter enjoyed collecting is an understatement. He was a “treasure hunter” and probably loved the hunt more than the find. He collected stamps, coins, baseball cards, watches, books, movies and music — to name a few. Books were his absolute favorite. He could walk into any bookstore and find the rarest of books. He eventually turned his “hobby” into a small and successful online book business. He and Cathy dedicated a lot of time packaging up and dropping off his sales at the local post office. Walter loved food — almost every day he would ask Cathy what she was making for dinner. His smile was welcoming, and you could not find him without a cough drop or a toothpick. He loved exploring and going “for a drive” on the weekends. He had a great memory, and no one could beat him at trivia. He spent many hours at the kitchen table with a cup of Lipton tea, mastering crossword puzzles and Sudoku or watching movies on TCM and one of his favorite TV shows like “Murder She Wrote” or “NCIS.” He loved music and could spend hours in music stores. He always had the radio on listening to old and new music. His favorites were The Animals, Leonard Cohen, Edith Piaf, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jacques Brel, Al Stewart, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Canned Heat, Love and many others. Despite chronic health issues, he had a positive outlook and a strong will to live his life to the fullest. He is survived by his wife; children and their spouses; grandchildren; siblings and their spouses; sister-in-law, Barbara Boettcher; and nieces and nephews, Juliana Trach, Nikola Vujcic, Natasha Vujcic, Larisa Trach, Sara Trach, Douglas Trach and Erica Engelbert. Walter is already terribly missed by his family.