Antoinette Waldo

Who is the lady in the library? Many people may wonder who is the woman’s portrait in the library and why is the picture hanging there.

Her name is Antoinette Waldo, born 1874 and died in 1956. Antoinette and her husband, Edmund Freeman Waldo moved from Michigan to Auburn in 1906. They joined the Congregational Church that year, and there had been a Waldo in the church congregation for over 80 years.

Antoinette was a devoted church worker; taught Sunday School; was president of the Ladies Guild and baked many loaves of bread used in Communion Services. Mr. Waldo was Vice President of Placer County High School for 30 years.

I suppose one would think, “That’s nice, but if we hung a picture of every person who was a member of the church, we wouldn’t have enough walls!”

Well, Antoinette Waldo is kind of special. Prior to her death she bequeathed her estate to her daughter, Lucille. Lucille did not have children, but had one niece. Lucille requested that the estate  continue to take care of her niece. Upon her niece’s passing, the remaining amount of the Waldo estate would go to the First Congregational Church of Auburn.

​For undesignated gifts such as this, the First Congregational Church Foundation was formed on October 19, 2003. The only stipulation in receiving the Waldo inheritance was a request from the family that Antoinette’s portrait be hung in our Church library.

So, when people ask, “Where’s Waldo?” We know exactly where Antoinette Waldo’s portrait is and why we are proud to display it.
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Written by Bruce Quick, Church Historian