All of us have people come into our lives at various times. Some stick around, some move on. But some of those people not only stick around, they become a part of our lives. Winfried was one of those people.
By any measure, Winfried was a very successful, truly self-made man.
To say he got off to a rough start, would be an understatement. He was born in Germany just before World War II started — he was premature and so undersized and puny that knowledgeable people, including the doctors, recommended not going to the trouble of saving him. Everyone thought he probably wouldn’t make it and if he did, he’d never be “right.” Of course his mother wasn’t hearing any of that and since times were hard in Germany in those days and facilities were limited, with no incubators, she put him in the oven to keep him warm. I always told Winfried that his future was determined right then and there — anyone placed in an oven at birth was destined to become a baker.
Winfried came to the US when he was 22 years old, seeking a better life. He was encouraged by a distant relative that worked in the baking industry in the Washington, D.C. area. After arriving in the US, Winfried became active in the German choir in Washington. It was through the choir that Winfried met Anne. From what I’ve heard, it was love at first sight for Winfried…. for Anne, maybe not so much. But he convinced Anne to go out with him and things were looking up. He was doing very well as a baker; his reputation and talent for “fancy” baked goods enabled him to earn a number of promotions and he and Anne were becoming a couple….
But then, of all things, he was drafted! I didn’t even know that was possible — for a German citizen to be drafted into the US services — but — it turns out it was. Military service certainly wasn’t in Winfried’s long-range plans, but he convinced Anne to get engaged before he left for bootcamp — as Winfried put it, he kind of wanted to “lock her in.”
One thing you should know about Winfried — there are only about 4 or 5 people on the face of the Earth that are more prone to seasickness than he is. So naturally, he was drafted into the Navy and assigned to a ship. What followed was two years of seasickness, but even under those conditions, he excelled in his trade as a baker, rising to the chief baker on the ship. He did some truly amazing things like baking a cake for the Marine Corps birthday that was so big it had to be lifted by a crane. All this while being perpetually seasick.
After returning from the Navy, Anne and Winfried got married —he became well known as an expert baker in the Washington area and also an excellent business man, managing the Safeway baking operation for many years. He also volunteered untold hours to community service, like the German choir. How he ever found time to sleep is a mystery to me.
After retirement, the Oxforts bought a beautiful piece of property and built a beautiful house in Shepherdstown. Just because he retired didn’t mean he slowed down, however. He always jumped in to help any good cause for the community. He baked bread in his own (Anne’s?) oven to help St. Agnes pay for a new church building. He contributed all the money to the church — totaling many, many thousands of dollars.
A few years ago, Winfried made a very detailed, exact scale model of the St. Agnes Chapel — out of gingerbread. A true work of art. He then raffled it off to the kids of St. Agnes. There was no money associated with the raffle — you just had to be a kid and write your name for a chance to win the model.
He didn’t do this to impress anyone, or to make any money. It was just another act of kindness by one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.
We will miss his humor, skill, professionalism, and courage. The world will be an appreciably worse place without him….
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