Valli Berndt Edelmann, a homemaker who excelled at sports throughout her life, died of congestive heart failure Friday at Oak Crest Village. The former Towson resident was 92.
She was born Valli Berndt in Copenhagen, Denmark, the daughter of parents who had moved to Denmark from Germany when her father worked at the Bing & Grondahl porcelain company. He came to the United States in 1925 to start a B&G; branch.
She and other family members sailed aboard the passenger liner Frederik VIII and moved to Schenley Road, then remained in Baltimore after plans for the porcelain factory fell through.
Within two years of her arrival, she won first prizes in swimming races and by the mid-1930s had become the Southeast Atlantic breaststroke champion, according to newspaper accounts.
She was a 1935 graduate of Western High School, where she played basketball and field hockey. An article in a 1934 edition of The Sun said she was "one of the most outstanding athletes Western has turned out" and that she was "rated as the best there is among high school basketball players in Baltimore."
After her high school graduation, she played field hockey on the Southeastern U.S. Reserve Team. She was offered a scholarship to the College of William & Mary but turned it down to marry John Edelmann in 1939.
She was a bookkeeper for a number of years at men's clothing maker J. Schoeneman's and later at Mergenthaler Vocational Technical School.
"She had a great sense of humor and could always make you laugh," said her daughter Janet Edelmann of Philadelphia. "She always looked on the bright side and had the insights to be a good judge of character."
She participated in league duckpin bowling and golf, and was a fan of the Orioles, Colts and Ravens.
The the day before she died, while sitting in a wheelchair, she took shots with a grandson using a lightweight basketball, family members said.
Funeral services will be private.
Survivors include her husband of nearly 69 years, John George Edelmann; another daughter, Joan Edelmann Craig of Ruxton; and a grandson.