Fred (Fritz) Arthur Baedke was born in the Spencer Hospital on August 7, 1937, to Arthur and Julia (Noram) Baedke. He was baptized and confirmed in the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Terril.
Fred began working at a young age doing an egg route before school and candled eggs after school. He also worked in a hardware store and gas station. He graduated from Terril Community High School. He served in the National Guard and was honorably discharged. After graduation from Terril Community School, he went to work for Highway Surfacers out of New Hampton and started building roads.
On May 20, 1961, Fred married Arlene Probst. They spent the summers on the road and winters back in Terril. In the winter of 1964, their son Mark was born.
Fred spent the next 25+ years working for Highway Surfacers and their sister company, Smith Construction. One of the projects that Fred worked on in the early ‘60s was the building of Interstate 80 in Iowa. This was an experimental project and was featured in several trade publications like Constructions Methods and Equipment, Iowa Business and Industry, and Roads and Streets.
Over his long career, he was a part of building many highways and streets in the state. In the winter, he drove semi delivering farm equipment in much of the US and Canada. Fred started farming in 1976 but continued with road construction and driving truck in the winter. In the late ‘70s, he started working winters for Dickinson County helping plow snow. In 1982, he started working for Dickinson County full time spending many years maintaining the roads around Terril. Over the years, Fred did several jobs to keep busy. These included School Bus Driver, School Janitor, Fuel Transport Driver, on the line at Polaris building water craft and spent many years as part of the security team at the Clay County Fair.
He and wArlene traveled throughout the US, always traveling by car. They always said they did not want to miss a portion of the country by flying over it. Many times they enjoyed taking their grandson Mike with them. He was a good husband, father and grandfather.
Fred was preceded in death by his two infant sisters and his parents, Arthur and Julia; mother and father-in-law, Henry (Nick) and Lilly Probst; brother and sister-in-law, Everett and Elaine Hatland.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Arlene; son, Mark (Maren); grandson, Michael (Megan) Baedke and several nieces and nephews.
