Obituary of Clifford Steven Baumer

Cliff Baumer, age 58, of St Louis Park, MN, passed away suddenly on February 9, 2017. Cliff is survived by his son and best friend, John and his wife, Crysannia, his incredible daughter, Jessica, John and Crysannia’s kids and his beloved grandkids, Austen and Klaira and his mother, Bertha. He was preceded in death by his father, Clifford Baumer, Sr. and sister, Mercedes Baumer. Cliff was born in Breckenridge, MN to Clifford and Bertha Baumer on March 17, 1958. He attended St. John’s Catholic School and Wahpeton High School where he was a treasured member of the boys high school wrestling team wrestling in the heavyweight class. Among his wrestling accomplishments was the record for the fastest pin. After graduating from WHS Cliff decided to pursue a college degree by first attending Wahpeton State School of Science and then finishing his Bachelor’s degree at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, MN. While living in Fargo, ND he met Shari Schmitt and in June 1984 they married and moved to the Twin Cities, MN area where Cliff had remained. Even though Cliff moved away from the Wahpeton area he kept in contact with – even to this day - many of his high school friends and classmates. In 1988, the first of Cliff’s greatest joys was born, his son, John. One of Cliff’s greatest disappointments was that John could not be persuaded to enter the world until the wee hours of the morning on 8/9/1988 – missing being an 8/8/88 baby by just “that much!” Cliff instilled in John his great love of all things baseball and was always so tickled to show off how much John knew about the Minnesota Twins at such a young age. Cliff and John could spend hours discussing baseball and would only scratch the surface of the starting pitcher and his record during that lengthy discussion! In October 1995, the second of Cliff’s greatest joys was born, his daughter, Jessica. Cliff was so incredibly proud of his little, blonde, blue-eyed girl spending many hours at her dance and soccer practices – sometimes all in the same day! – never missing one of her dance recitals or soccer games. And, as with John, Cliff instilled in Jessica his great love of baseball. Numerous father/daughter outings to Twins games were a season ritual for the two of them. Cliff loved his kids with all his heart and when his grandkids, Austen and Klaira, came along he expanded that love to include them. He always told everyone how fortunate he was to be able to spend time with HIS grandkids this last year and a half. Cliff enjoyed numerous trips to both coasts of Florida throughout the years. He loved visiting Daytona Beach as well as the Madeira Beach area on the gulf side - especially during times of inclement weather always hoping that he could be there during a low-level hurricane just “to watch the waves roll in.” One of his biggest wishes was that he could welcome all of his friends to a retirement place on the beach to sit and drink a beer while watching the sun sink into the water. Cliff will always be in our hearts and remembered as a loving father, grandpa, friend, dedicated sports fan and he will always be known for his generous and kind spirit and will be so deeply missed by all. A memorial gathering will be held Sunday, February 12 from 2:30pm to 5:30pm at the Apple Valley American Legion Club, 14521 Granada Drive, Apple Valley MN.