Jutta Ragnhild Walter passed away at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta on July 17, 2023. She and her husband Ingo were residents of Montclair, New Jersey and since 1989 have had a home on Barters Island.

Jutta was born on March 6, 1942 in Wuhan, China on the banks of the Yangtze River, where her father represented European machinery manufacturers – both before and after the Japanese occupation and into the Communist takeover. Her family and other Europeans of various nationalities were expelled from China in 1949 and evacuated to their home countries through the Suez Canal on a U.S. troop transport.

She was the daughter of Heinz and Maria Dobernecker of the Breslau region of eastern Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), who resettled in Hamburg after World War II. The family spent another three years in Karachi, Pakistan before returning to Hamburg where Jutta completed her schooling.

Jutta met her husband Ingo Walter there and immigrated to the U.S. in 1961 at the age of 19. They were married in 1963 and lived in Montclair, New Jersey until Ingo finished his Ph.D. degree – they moved for five years to St. Louis where he taught at the University of Missouri. The couple returned to the New York area in 1970, where Ingo has taught international economics and finance at New York University for over 50 years.

Jutta and Ingo have two children, Carsten E. Walter of Montgomery Village, Maryland and Inga M. Walter of Upper Montclair, New Jersey. She is also survived by five grandchildren: Alexandra Van Siclen of Upper Montclair, New Jersey, Wilson Walter of Montgomery Village, Maryland, Rebecca and Samantha Van Siclen of New York City and Christian Walter of West Lafayette, Indiana - as well as a sister, Helga, of Chur, Switzerland.

Jutta was an enthusiastic traveler and liked to chat about visiting 60-odd countries including extended residencies in Germany, Scotland, England, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia. A benefit of being married to a footloose academic, she would say. She was a keen observer of local cultures with plenty of opinions she was never shy about sharing.

Jutta will be sorely missed by her large family and many personal friends.