Alta Louise Wachs

Alta Louise Wachs was born on July 26, 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression. Her father, Edward Schmidt, had a jewelry store in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Alta used to say the store kept going in that time by her father repairing watches and clocks, with many customers paying in chickens, rather than cash. Alta is a graduate of Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. She met Bill Wachs at a family picnic between her Freshman and Sophomore years at Carroll and they were married on June 20, 1953, as soon as they both graduated.

Alta became very adept at quickly making a home in new locations as she and Bill moved frequently whenever Bill was promoted to new positions at IBM. The family, which eventually included daughter Amy, and sons Arnold and Alan, lived in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, Mobile, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Princeton, New Jersey, St. Louis, Missouri, Ridgefield, Connecticut and finally settled in Boulder, Colorado in 1977. In each place, Alta was a strong member of the local Lutheran Church choir and she always found time to exercise her artistic talents through sewing, embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, copper enameling and quilting. She was active in her children’s activities and was a Cub Scout Den Mother and Girl Scout Leader. In Boulder, Alta was an accomplished bookkeeper and managed the finances for several small businesses.

Alta and Bill loved the mountains and retired to the Estes Park community in 2001. Alta took her quilting skills to another level as she joined the Trail Ridge Quilters and other local quilting groups. She made beautiful and personally designed quilts for all her children and grandchildren, as well as contributing to the numerous Trail Ridge Quilters sales to benefit the Estes Park Health Foundation. She was also part of a quilting group through church that made quilts for Lutheran relief projects. Alta spearheaded a women’s hiking group through the Newcomer’s Club and explored most of the local Estes Park area trails with her friends, continuing long after she was no longer a newcomer. She was also a frequent volunteer at the Estes Park Museum. Along with Bill, she was active in the Estes Park Duck Race and made the vests still worn by the volunteers for the Duck Race. Until January, she was a member of the Shepard of the Mountain Lutheran Church choir.

Alta passed away peacefully on April 28, 2024. Alta is sorely missed by her children, Amy Louise Wachs of St. Louis, Missouri, Arnold William Wachs of Fort Collins, Colorado, Alan Edward Wachs of Firestone, Colorado, her grandchildren, Lauryn Wachs, Kate Wachs, Will Schedl, Maggie Schedl, Jennifer Gonsalves, Jon Colson, Carla Colson, Taylor Colson, and her great grandchildren Jade, Matthew and Eleanor. Her life will be celebrated in a memorial service at Shepard of the Mountain Lutheran Church in Estes Park on May 25, 2024, at 11 a.m. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Shepherd of the Mountain Lutheran Church or the Estes Park Health Foundation.