In Memoriam

Nicolaus F. von Baillou (Nick, Nico)

Nick died on July 24, 2021. Below are the invitation to his memorial service, a remembrance by his roommate Joe Wishcamper, and the essay that Nick wrote on the occasion of our 50th Reunion.

• Invitation to Memorial Service
• Remembrance by Joe Wishcamper ’64
• Reunion essay by Nick

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Invitation to Memorial Service

(See a PDF version)

Please join us in remembrance of

Capt. Nicolaus Alexander Freiherr von Baillou

Saturday, the 6th day of November
at 1:00 in the afternoon.

St. George Catholic Church
7240 Scottsville Road
Scottsville, VA 24590

Reception to follow at:
1644 Dudley Mountain Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” John 11:25-26

CHILDHOOD

Nicolaus Alexander Freiherr von Baillou was born into Austrian aristocracy on June 19, 1942, in Neutitschien, Germany, the firstborn of Baron Karl von Baillou and Baroness Angela. Nick came to America by way of Czechoslovakia amidst the chaos of World War II. Angela stowed her two children in the hold of a passenger ship, and they entered the United States in 1949 by way of Ellis Island. The von Baillou family eventually settled in Virginia, where Nick attended boarding school at Salisbury in Connecticut on scholarship.

CAREER

Nick attended Yale University, paying his way mostly with scholarships and summer jobs. He was a member of DKE, involved with the Ring and Candle senior society, and was an oarsman. After graduation, he would continue to row competitively. Nick was then awarded an MBA from Columbia University. Drafted the day he graduated, Nick served 3 years on active duty in the Navy and stayed in the Naval Reserve for 26 years. Captain von Baillou had five commands under his belt. Simultaneously, Nick built a successful consulting company specializing in manufacturing operations in the aerospace, automotive, energy, and electronics industries. His career came with the privileges of traveling and living all over the world. Nick’s professional successes were outdone only by his personal accomplishments: the births of his two daughters, first Victoria, and then Alexandra five years later. After his retirement in 2006, Nick relocated to Florida. He had developed a keen interest in equestrian sports. Nick wed the love of his life, Vivienne, who shared his passions for fitness, world travel, horses, and most of all, raising Victoria and Alexandra, and they went on to build the life of their dreams together in Alabama.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.” – Thessalonians 4:13-14.

REMEMBERED BY

“Nick was the most interesting man I have ever met. His stories were fascinating and always interesting. I loved how he looked you right in your eyes as you talked to him… like you were the most important person at the moment.” — the Coggins family

“Nick possessed lovely characteristics of our Father in heaven.” — Angela Owen

“He was a mentor in business to me and an overall great friend. His stories were always “terrific!” A word he would use often. He was always the encourager. He always used words like “wonderful!” “fantastic!” “terrific!” From the flannel shirts, jeans, and rawhide gloves you would wear in the gym, to the Dakota truck that you would back into the spot with Tommy and Rudi in the back. And of course people would ask “Whose dogs?” And you would laugh and say something clever. Always the charmer.” — Nate Fuller

“At school I knew Nick as a tall, lanky, boisterous boy. At our 25th reunion, a group of us was sitting on a blanket in the courtyard catching up. He was chatting away with familiarity but didn’t sound or look as anyone I could remember. I was having a conversation with a physically powerful, quite bald man with great presence and a familiar twinkle in his eyes. With Nick’s departure, a strong light has been extinguished.” — Skip Pohl

“Nick was a complex, brilliant man. He read the WSJ daily, making notes of passages he wanted to discuss with anyone who stopped by. Though he kept company with some of the most accomplished people of this generation, he remained kind, humble, appreciative, and genuinely interested in everyone around him, taking special care of those who needed it most. Nick was strongly convicted, fiercely loyal, and deeply committed to his faith, in Bod, family, and country.” — Krista C.

Nick is survived by his wife Vivienne, his daughters Ali and Victoria, his sister Astrid, and his brothers Charles and Andrew.

“Perhaps what really matters is not an inconsequential end but rather the wondrous experience of an open world and the freedom to choose our path.” — Nick

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Remembrance by Joe Wishcamper ’64

July 28, 2021

Nick von Baillou died on July 24 in an Alabama hospital after contracting COVID, despite having been vaccinated. Nick was unable to survive due to a weakened immune system from years of cancer therapy. He had valiantly fought for fifteen years against esophageal cancer and severe aftereffects from long-term radiation. I last saw him at our 55th reunion where he was engaging and lively despite the toll that cancer had taken on him.

We met and became fast friends the summer before our freshman year in my hometown of Fort Worth where he had a summer job, and we decided to room together at Yale. We remained roommates for four years, together with Mike Sherwood, Charlie Barker, Bob Blair, and Clancy Ridley (the latter two are deceased).

Nick was a WW2 refugee. At the end of the war his mother escaped Czechoslovakia with Nick and his sister Astrid following the killing of their father (witnessed by Nick as a three-year-old) in the chaos that existed as the Russians pushed the Germans out of the country. The family eventually emigrated to America and settled in Virginia.

At Yale, Nick was an active and visible member of our class, with many friends. He was a member of DKE and an underground senior society, he was a rower, and he participated in numerous other extracurricular activities.

Following Yale, he earned an MBA at Columbia and served in the Navy as an officer. Following active duty, he remained in the reserves, retiring after twenty-five years with the rank of captain. Nick had had a varied and successful international business career. He was married to the wonderful Vivienne, and he adored his two daughters, Victoria and Alexandra.

Nick was a complex person. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and family. He held strong convictions. He was a patriot, a devout Christian, and a political conservative. He and I were at opposite ends of the political and religious spectrums, but we could talk frankly about our differences.

I respected Nick as a man of character, and my respect was magnified by my awareness of the challenges he overcame during his life.

A memorial service will take place in Charlottesville in October.

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Reunion Essay by Nick

Published in our 50th Reunion Class Book

May 2014

The inconsequential outcome to my life is both puzzling and gratifying.

Yale promised an exciting career. I did see some of my classmates grow into very distinguished roles. It may not have brought them the joy that should have accompanied their achievements, as life seems to extract a quid pro quo for one's successes. But they made an imprint.

For those of us that did not, there are a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is the apparent importance of "street smarts" or an intuitive understanding of how things work. We cannot discount raw intelligence, creativity, or problem-solving skills. And so, I am left to puzzle how, in the land of unlimited opportunity, I got to play a very minor role. Perhaps l did not really want public exposure or work hard enough or know the right people.

Who cares? I am content to have had the experience and the friendships that came with it, the beautiful women that joined me even briefly, and the fun of the fast lane, with great cars, homes, international clients, and good income. But it never really went anywhere. My career experience blew up several times in political battles that torpedoed our stock and demolished our stature. Growth, mergers, selling out, and stock implosions decimated the professional networks built each time.

And now, as I look back from our 50th, life seems very brief. It takes so much effort to move forward that one marvels that anything gets done in a lifetime. It seems the end of the runway is all but on us. How did Jefferson or Franklin cram so much into so little time, working with quill, candle and parchment, horse and buggy, minimal medical care? I reflect on the recent innovations and how quickly we have become dependent on them. One can only speculate what marvels are yet to come.

I recall standing on a hillside in Germany shortly after the end of the war. The skies and roads were empty, there was no power, little food, no medicine. The landscape was crawling with war-weary American troops and their equipment, many of our family were in DP camps on both sides of the border that was yet to be formalized. For those in the East, life was far worse. It seemed that we were finished as a nation. But within a decade, Germany had reinvented itself, the blood-drenched land had healed. Among the lucky few, we safely made it to America.

I remember also the C.A.R.E. packages that had kept us alive in the American sector, our first loaf of fresh bread when the wheat began to flow to us from US silos, and the Marshall Plan funds that began to restore momentum to the economy. Hitler was gone and so was the dark threat of totalitarianism that we saw continued in the East. America was the most powerful nation in the world, the most constructive, exuberant, and promising, and the most protective of human rights. Most important, it was the world's creditor and generously made investment possible. It was a country and a culture profoundly different from any other nation save tiny Switzerland. Its impact on Germany was overwhelming and its consequences continue today. Germany began to comprehend the power of economic dynamics and technological development in contrast to military hardware and brute force. Germany has remade itself as the most consequential country in Europe based on the merits of its achievements rather than conquest. What a contrast to the rare ruins preserved as reminders of what most of Germany looked like after the War and the powerless feeling of hopelessness that overwhelmed a defeated people.

Thus, as I stand now on the hillsides of America today and look at the decaying cities, roads, traditions, institutions, government finances at every level, I marvel at how America is receding and pray that life for me or my family does not end in similar ruins in which it began.

So, perhaps what really matters is not an inconsequential end but rather the wondrous experience of an open world and the freedom to choose our path, a universal opening that an increasing number of nations have discovered in the era of Pax Americana. No nation has ever been more giving and patient, nor filled the human heart with greater expectation than our USA.

We have to conclude what remarkable period of history it has really been! And remember that what we know today will be totally different tomorrow. What we take from this experience makes us who we are and the possibilities remain endless, even in the short time that may remain to us.

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