Jeannette Anderson Bakke

Jeannette Bakke Livestream

Born on March 16, 1939 to Carl and Edith Anderson in Western Springs, IL. She has an older brother, Howard, and an adopted sister, Joyce. 

She attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. She met and married a classmate, Stanley Bakke. They married after graduation on July 22, 1961. Stan was a lieutenant and served two years stateside during the Berlin Crisis. Jeannette taught third grade. In September 1963, Stan started a four-year graduate program at Cornell University. In the fourth year, Jeannette earned a master's degree and graduated with Stan who earned an MBA and a law degree. 

They moved to Minneapolis in 1967. Jeannette taught third grade before working on a PhD. Stan worked as an attorney for ten years before working in finance. Stan retired in 1995. 

Jeannette taught at Bethel College in the Seminary for many years. During this time, she wrote a book "Holy Invitations - Exploring Spiritual Direction". More than 41,500 copies have been sold. She was invited to teach in Hong Kong by Simon Lee. The book was translated into Chinese and then Stan and Jeannette went to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Malaysia to teach and speak. They have been to Israel and surrounding countries three times. They have travelled to more than 50 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. 

For many years, Jeannette did spiritual direction including at Christos Center for Spiritual Formation in Lino Lakes, MN. 

Stan and Jeannette built their home on Bald Eagle Lake about 12 miles from St. Paul and loved living on the lake. While cleaning stuff out of the garage four of her vertebrae were broken. This resulted in several years of pain and treatment. This eventually resulted in living in pain until she died on July 2, 2026, only 14 days from their 65th anniversary. J

eannette was ordained at First Baptist Church in White Bear Lake, which is now Eagle Brook Church. Jeannette loved to sing in church choir. Jeannette and Stan started to go to St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi due to their excellent choir. Eventually they became members of St. Andrew's. Jeannette shared her love of Jesus with devotional writings twice a week with daily messages distributed by Christos. Her name was not told. Stan and Jeannette had a deep appreciation for the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College. Their passion is on English authors including C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Dorothy Sayers. In 2015, the Bakke auditorium was built and attached to the Wade Center. This auditorium can seat up to 150 people and is used for lectures and various programs. 

Jeannette is survived by her husband, Stanley Bakke; brother-in-law, Don (Pat) Bakke; nephew, Rob Bakke; loving cousins, other nieces, nephews, and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Edith Anderson; brother, Howard Anderson (Ruth); sister, Joyce Anderson; and brother-in-law, Bob Bakke (Jacqueline). 

Celebration of Life Friday, September 11, 2026, 11:00 A.M. at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 900 Stillwater Road, Mahtomedi with visitation one hour prior to the service. Lunch following in the Fellowship Hall. 

Memorials preferred to: Christos Center for Spiritual Formation in Lino Lakes, MN or St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Mahtomedi, MN.