Article from the July 29th LaCrosse Tribune In ninth grade, Jason Baldner wrote a poem with a line, “I say winners never quit and quitters never win.”
It was something he believed then and throughout his life. Whether clutching a waterskiing rope through wipeouts in rough water, barreling down the most challenging mountain bike path or leading the life of a successful entrepreneur, Baldner never gave up.
“The thing that set Jason apart was that he approached life with an incredible can-do attitude,” said Rick McGarry, close friend.
Baldner, 35, died Wednesday after suffering serious injuries in a speedboat crash in Florida on May 8.
Longtime friend Tim Desmond remembers how Baldner would fall down and keep getting back up when learning to waterski at age 7.
That determination continued as a teenager and young adult when he won numerous city, state and national awards for barefoot waterskiing.
Baldner wouldn’t let go no matter how rough the water, friends said. And when he fell, he always managed to pull himself back up, said friend Jon Franz who skied with Baldner in the Tommy Bartlett Show in Wisconsin Dells in the 1990s.
“He would be on his back hanging there and then whip himself around smiling away,” said friend Corey Zarecki who skied with Baldner in the River City Waterski Team.
Baldner was just as competitive on a mountain bike. He and friend Bruce Van Epps would ride during lunch breaks while working at Kitchen Solvers.
“Taking a leisure ride just didn’t happen,” said Van Epps. “Whoever got the most dirt on them or left the most skin on the trail had the most bragging rights. Jason usually won those rights.”
Baldner tested the most technical downhill mountain bike trail he encountered, said friend Paul Darrington.
“There were sections I would say, ‘I’m not gonna try it, and he would try it,” he said.
Baldner not only played hard, he worked hard, friends said. He was president of Kitchen Solvers from 2003 to 2008 and later launched 411 Technologies, an IT business support company, in January 2009.
Van Epps was amazed how many e-mails he received from Baldner late at night about thoughts and ideas related to work at Kitchen Solvers.
“He couldn’t wait to discuss new ideas and ways to improve things,” he said.
Baldner was also ambitious when it came to his wedding proposal to wife Lynzi Baldner. Instead of a traditional dinner and night out, he mouthed the words while barefoot waterskiing on one foot. He managed to let go, unzip his wet suit and pull out the ring box, said Todd Jordan, another close friend who watched from the boat.
“Who could turn that down?” he said.
Baldner wasn’t one to miss out on a good time, said Jordan. He was always the last up talking at a late night campfire and the first up in the morning raring to go, he said.
And, when Baldner grew older and he and Lynzi had four daughters, he found he enjoyed life even more. When Franz became a new father in December 2008, he got an e-mail from Baldner.
“I’m sure you are enjoying being a dad, it is a great experience and I enjoy being a parent more than anything else,” he wrote.
