Margrit Kilchmann Baltazar

Margarit Baltazar, known to her friends as Greta, was born September 4, 1932, in Luzern, Switzerland to Hans and Klara Kilchmann. She was the youngest of 3, with an older brother and sister, Kurt and Annelies. She grew up in Wolhusen, a small predominantly Catholic town, where she was schooled by the same nuns who had taught her own mother. While it wasn’t quite the alpine setting of a Heidi, Wolhusen was nestled in the bucolic rolling countryside of farms and orchards, where she could readily walk to school, church, bakery, butcher or grocery store. Little was there to suggest that from this protected rural setting, she would one day come to travel the globe.

Her first foray was to Paris, working for a year as a governess to learn French, and then made her way in 1954 to the United States, arriving in New York where she was met by her new American family who took her to Washington, DC. In her social way, she quickly made friends with other Swiss governesses who invited her one fateful Sunday to the International Student House on R St where high tea was served every Sunday afternoon. She had been asked to serve tea from a samovar and our father, a young Air Force Captain, learning Russian at Georgetown University, became smitten. She recalls how he kept returning for refills. He says, he knew right away, as he turned to his friend Paul and said, “that’s the woman for me.”

In May 1955, Greta gave birth to their first born, Katherine at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, followed in 1956 by Susanne in Berlin, in 1957, Thomas in Paris, Phillip in 1959 in Texas, and Melchior in 1961 in Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. She liked to say we were her “walking UN.”

In her lifetime, she travelled to countless countries where she and our father modeled how to assimilate into the cultures we lived in. We came to know the history, land, foods, and customs of the different lands. Her many photo albums attest to her adventurous spirit that she transmitted to all 5 of her children. Her Catholic religion was her rock that steered her through trying times raising her 5 children, sacrificing to educate all of them not only to do well in school, but in etiquette, such as looking people in the eye when you make a toast and how a firm handshake reflected your character. She was an avid reader and instilled a love for reading in all her children, which also translated into being a big letter writer. From early on, during the 4 years our father worked for US AID in Vietnam, we would faithfully write to him every Sunday. While he worked 20 years in intelligence for the Air Force, she excelled in cooking, baking and entertaining. As a true Swiss, she was into health foods before it was a fad, packing us healthy lunches. She liked things orderly and organized, fitting in daily walks and weekly swimming which put her in shape for alpine hikes with her sister for countless summers when she spent a month in Switzerland visiting her mother. So, she was in shape to walk up Williamsburg Blvd for her first job at the Powhattan Nursing Home and devotedly stayed 25 years as a beloved teacher’s assistant at the Child Development Center.

Her rootedness in her Swiss culture was transmitted to all of us as she and her sister forged the connections between us and our 7 Swiss cousins that continues strong and vibrant. The testament to her nurturing these ties was acknowledged at her celebration of her 90th birthday in 2022 in the alpine village of Grindelwald, Switzerland, where 61 family members and friends gathered in her honor. She heard speeches extolling her strong values of family loyalty, faith, celebration, and friendship. She was known for these traits in her Knollwood community where she made many dear friends living out the last 5 years of her long life helping with Catholic masses, hosting the priest, attending Knollwood trips, programs and events, swimming, walking in nearby neighborhoods and Rock Creek Park, and hosting countless gatherings where she was known as the consummate hostess-until she succumbed to complications of COVID.

Hers was a life force of service, living 60 years as a wife, mother, grandmother, friend and practicing Catholic. She is proceeded in death by her husband Jesse and survived by her 5 children, 9 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. We will honor her life of service by continuing to devote our lives to love of family, friends, and the love of God.

In lieu of flowers please choose from the following charities:

St. Francis Mission, Rosebud, South Dakota

https://sfmission.org/

Boys to Men Mentoring of San Diego

https://boystomen.org/

Medical Mission Sisters

https://www.medicalmissionsisters.org/

A visitation for Margrit will be held Wednesday, January 24, 2024 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Murphy Funeral Homes, 1102 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 22046. A funeral service will occur Friday, January 26, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at St James Catholic Church, 905 Park Ave, Falls Church, VA 22046.