Audrey Heeter Baerveldt (nee Koebbe)

1935 - 2026

Baerveldt, Audrey Heeter (nee Koebbe), passed away Saturday, January 3, 2026. Audrey was born in St. Louis and spent her childhood as a South City resident. Her father was a driver for Wonder Bread and her mother was a homemaker raising Audrey, her sisters Dottie and Terry and brother Bob.

Audrey married her first love, Tom Heeter, at the age of 19 and retired from Union Electric shortly thereafter. Audrey and Tom spent 40 happy years together raising their four boys, Tom, Jim, Jack and Mike.  

She spent her life dedicated to providing a loving and supportive home for her husband, sons, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. With a generous soul, an easygoing sense of humor and a knack for making Jello molds, she brought great joy and boundless laughter to her family, friends and any stranger lucky enough to cross her path.

A lover of all sports and competition, Audrey spent countless hours attending her sons’ and grandchildren’s baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, football, swimming and yes, even bowling games - cheering them on from the sidelines and celebrating every win, loss and tie (but especially the wins). She retained a special place in her heart for her beloved St. Louis Cardinals and Blues, attending as a season ticket holder and watching as many televised games as time allowed.

Following her first husband’s death, she was lucky enough to find love again and married a second time, to Pete Baerveldt. They spent many happy years together enjoying each other’s company by sharing lots of laughter and traveling the world.

As a lifelong Catholic, she was a proud supporter of her parishes by donating her time to their grade schools as a mom/volunteer. And later in life, unable to escape her South St. Louis “Scrubby Dutch” roots, she volunteered as a “Heavenly Duster” at St. Alban Roe church.

Audrey also had a deep love for animals and shared her home with many family pets along the way. What a gal!

Audrey is survived by her sons, Tom (Cindy) Heeter, Jim (Ben Gasirowski) Heeter, Jack (Holly Diesel) Heeter and Mike (Meghan) Heeter; her beloved grandchildren, Zoe (Mark) Hellios, Calvin (Michelle Naert) Heeter, Jeff Heeter, Brad (Paria) Heeter, Greg (Niki) Heeter; and her great-grandchildren Layla, Dieter, Kam, Ashton and Myles.

Services: A private celebration of life will take place later this month. In lieu of flowers, the family invites those who wish to honor Audrey’s memory to make a donation to her preferred charity - The National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

As a service of the SCHRADER Funeral Home and Crematory, friends may sign the family's on-line guestbook at Schrader.com.