Gertrud Elsasser Bacon

Gertrud Elsasser Bacon, beloved mother and Oma, died 14 April 2025 at Golden Pond Assisted Living in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, of Alzheimer’s.

Born in 1938 as second daughter to Frida Wagner and Gerhard Elsäßer (Elsaesser) in Aufhausen, Geislingen an der Steige, Württemberg, Germany, Gertrud had an older sister and six younger brothers. Her father was a Lutheran pastor and Nazi-objector who was a prisoner of war in WW2.  Gertrud studied chemistry, nutrition, and phlebotomy in Germany, and in 1959 met her former husband, John Bennett Bacon, an American exchange student at the University of Tübingen.

She emigrated to the US, married, and lived with John in various parts of the country while he pursued a PhD and began his career as a philosophy professor. They had two children, son David and daughter Sara. The family lived in Jerusalem, Israel, for a time around 1970, and then settled in the Bronx, NY. She and John divorced in 1981. Gertrud attended Fordham University and Lehman College while her children were young, and was awarded a Masters in Occupational Therapy from Columbia University in 1986. In addition to practicing occupational therapy with school children and the elderly, she was a social worker, yoga teacher, and practiced Reiki and meditation.

Gertrud was a lifelong musician, playing recorder as part of various renaissance and early music ensembles, as well as singing in the Riverdale Choral Society (Bronx, NY). She was also a lifelong hiker and member of several hiking clubs, especially the Thendara Mountain Club. She was an active member of the Society for Ethical Culture and a resident and member of the Amalgamated Housing Cooperative in the Bronx.

Gertrud is survived by her daughter, Sara Elsa-Beech, and wife Jennifer Balfour, of Somerville, Massachusetts, by her son, David F. Bacon and wife Karen (Deckman), of Savannah, Georgia,  and by her grandchildren, Calder, Rosalind, and Miles. Her siblings, Renate Lumpp, Gerhard (Christel), Martin, Herman, Albrecht, Wilhelm, Konrad Elsaesser, and their families live throughout Germany and mourn her as well.

Funeral services will be held with family and are under the care of the Chesmore Funeral Home of Hopkinton. Donations may be made in Gertrud’s honor to the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx. https://www.nybg.org/join-support/honor-memorial-gifts/