July 21, 1936 – August 18, 2022

Wallace Clark Acker passed away at the age of 86 on August 18, 2022, two years after skiing his last powder run. Wally was born, the 6 of 7 Acker siblings, in Arvada, Colorado on July 21, 1936. He spent 27 years in Steamboat Springs and 17 in Silverthorne before coming full circle back to the front range to a new home in Broomfield two weeks prior to his passing. He died peacefully, alongside his wife of 48 years, Jan and his daughters. Wally led a life filled with his passions: skiing, music, travel, family and friends.

Wally graduated school five times, starting in 1954 from Arvada High School. He earned an Associates degree from Mesa College, a Bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University, a Masters in Education and an EDS degree in School Psychology from University of Northern Colorado in 1968. Wally was an educator from 1958 through 2000, serving as a teacher and a school psychologist often using music therapy in his advocacy of students.

In 1960, Wally was called up by the Army for the Berlin Crisis and was sent to the Cold Weather Mountain School in Alaska. It was here, he developed his deep love of skiing. Wally joined the Department of Defense as a teacher in 1962 and spent 18 years abroad. First in Augsburg and later in Bamberg, Germany where he spent countless weekends skiing the Austrian Alps. It was in Germany as well, where he met his wife Jan. They married in 1973 in Okinawa, Japan and later moved to Seoul Korea where they had their three daughters Lynn, Ann and Leah.

In 1980, Wally moved his family back to his beloved Colorado to reside in Steamboat Springs. Wally felt lucky everyday to live in the paradise of the Yampa Valley where he could ski over 100 days a year. In 2007, Wally and Jan moved to Silverthorne to be closer to family, the symphony in Denver and to explore the Summit County mountains. Always one to take on something new, he began telemark skiing in his 70s and racked up hundreds of more days on his tele-boards, even skiing 200 days in the 2011 season! Together, he and Jan enjoyed meeting new people, telling jokes in the Keystone gondola and entertaining friends in their mountain home. They also continued to enjoy traveling to Europe, Asia, Australia and South America over the last several years. Wally always lived his life with passion, adventure and a lot of fun.

Wally leaves behind his wife Jan, his daughters Lynn Lannin, Ann Acker and Leah Acker, his son-in-laws Josh Lannin and Jon Hanke, as well as 4 granddaughters. Donations in Wally’s memory can be made to the Colorado Symphony Guild.