Alda Stinson

Alda Wasmuth Stinson passed away May 8, 2022, at the age of 96. Alda was born Jan. 26, 1926, to parents Pauline (Pander) and Paul Wasmuth in the Tallinn, Estonia, house built by her paternal grandfather.

A devoted wife and mother, Alda loved to grow and paint flowers, invest wisely and watch stocks closely. She practiced water aerobics into her 80s, hosted fine china teas with garden club girlfriends and doted generously on her four grandchildren. She was creative, smart, opinionated and honest with no filter.

To appreciate her toughness is to learn her story of wartime survival. Her journey as a refugee is rich with a consistent theme of her ability to meet new people and quickly form supportive friendships.

Alda’s early childhood reads like a Baltic folktale. Her mother was a farmer’s daughter. Her father grew up in an aristocratic family, forced to flee to Tallinn from Russia after their estate was confiscated by the communists during the Bolshevik Revolution.

Alda’s dad, age 52 when she was born, was a government official and an amateur naturalist. His butterfly collections are archived at Estonia’s University of Tartu.

In 1940 at age 14, Alda's idyllic life was shattered by the Soviet invasion of Estonia. She and her family were deported to German-occupied Poland, where she briefly found happiness attending art school. By 1943, she was forced to work in a munitions factory by Hitler’s regime. A manager recognized her artistic talent and moved her from shell inspection to drafting.

In 1945 as World War II progressed, teenage Alda became separated from her family when the Soviets invaded Poland. She never again saw her mother. Dodging bombs and machine-gun fire, Alda traveled alone on foot and by rail through refugee camps until she found safety in American-occupied Germany.

Fluent in German and English, she became an interpreter for the U.S. Army and met Woodrow Stinson, her soon-to-be GI husband. The couple had a small wedding ceremony in Stuttgart.

In 1948, Alda and her newborn son traveled on the last war bride ship to America. In New York City’s harbor, “I went on deck and there she stood. … The great lady holding her torch. I was free. All anxiety fell off my shoulders,” she once wrote in a journal.

Alda and Woodrow soon settled in San Antonio. As a young mother with two children in the 1950s, Alda was a draftsman for a prominent civil engineer and later for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. until her retirement. While working, she earned an associate degree in art from San Antonio College.

In 1993, after Estonia gained independence from Soviet control, Alda returned to her homeland with her daughter, Sandra. During museum visits, she saw for the first time her father’s historic nature writings, drawings and research preserved along with her family heritage.

Alda is preceded in death by her parents; sister, Musa; and husband. She is survived by son Mark (Nancy); daughter Sandra Stout (Tom); grandsons Andrew (Bernadette) and Zachary (Leah); granddaughters Hazel Hieftje (Jon) and Grace Elizabeth; and great-grandchildren Eliana, Eloise, Georgia and Oliver.

Private graveside services will be held June 2, 2022, at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the San Antonio Humane Society. sahumane.org/donate.