Annette Hertha Ruth Inge Bydekarken

Bydekarken, Annette Hertha Ruth Inge (Wagner) of Weston, died peacefully on May 29, 2025 after a long illness. She was born May 4, 1934 in Berlin, Germany. Beloved wife of George F. (Fritz) Mohn. She was previously married to the late Hennig Bydekarken, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Kiel (Germany). Loving mother of Henry Bydekarken and Phillip Bydekarken of Germany. Dear sister of Gerd Wagner and his wife Norma of Chatham and of the late Walter Wagner of Marburg, Germany. Cherished daughter of the late Karl and Marie (Hovener) Wagner.
Annette was proud to have been baptised by well-known pastor Martin Niemöller in Berlin (Dahlem). Pastor Niemöller was one of the founders of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazification of German Protestant churches. He narrowly escaped execution in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Annette was also proud that her father, although holding a civil service position as Landscape Architect in charge of the grounds of the entire Olympic sports complex in Berlin, steadfastly refused to join the Nazi Party. Her father was also one of the founders of the Community Garden movement in Germany.
In Weston, Annette participated in many community activities. She taught children to knit at the Weston Community Center (and gave some of them private piano lessons). She worked in the consignment shops previously operated at the Josiah Smith Tavern and at St. Julia Catholic Church. She practiced her Conversational Italian in classes at the Weston Library. She also sang in the choir of the Lutheran Church of the Savior (LCMS) in Bedford, Mass. However, Annette's most important service was as the music director of the Saengerchor Boston, a German-language chorus that meets at the Boylston Schulverein in North Walpole, Mass. This is where she met Fritz, her husband!
A Celebration of Life is tentatively planned for September at the Lutheran Church of the Savior in Bedford, Mass. Interment will be with a green burial next to her husband's mother and sister at Greensprings Natural Cemetery outside of Ithaca, NY. Please visit devitofuneralhome.com to view an online guestbook. To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Annette, please visit our Tree Store.