Where did the name Wally come from?
Where did the name Wally come from?
Wally was the warmhearted, adopted grandmother to farm founders, Susan and Albert’s family. Here’s what Susan says about her:
Wally was our family’s fairy godmother. Immensely protective, she watched over us for 40+ years in her own loving, no-nonsense way. She took care of me when I was a baby. And then when Albert and I had kids, she appeared every weekend, out of the goodness of her heart, to help take care of our children. She would turn up at our house Friday evenings like clockwork, two egg breads in hand, making sure we woke up the following morning to the smell of french toast.
Famous for her Christmas cookies, Wally would bake hundreds of them each year— all different kinds — and fill them in shoe boxes (actually, boot boxes) which we consumed throughout the holidays. We used to say she brought Christmas with her.
Wally’s real name was Waltraut Bünge. Originally from Lübeck, Germany, she came to our family in 1964 when my brothers were two and five and I was just a few months old. From the start, we simply called her Wally, a fitting name, unpretentious and to the point.
Her towering stature (around 6 feet tall) commanded respect from all children. A long-standing part of the Oratorio Society of Queens choir, Wally was an enthusiastic singer. She also loved athletics and the outdoors. She belonged to the German hiking club. She taught me backflips on the diving board at the local, public pool. And I can still see her doing routines on the parallel bars atop a float in the annual NYC Steuben Day parade.
In 2016, when we first discovered the farm, Wally had recently passed away. It was then we thought of naming the farm after her. Utterly unassuming, Wally would probably have been mortified by the tribute.
My favorite of Wally’s expressions was her parting advice whenever any family member left the house: “Have fun whatever you’re doing!” Words to live by indeed.
Wally by the Window’ Photo Credit: Red Leash Studio