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Barbara Nancy Schroeder, 64, passed away February 21, 2014, at her home in La Crosse.
Barb was born Jan. 20, 1950, in La Crosse, to Russel and Edith (Wapp) Schroeder. She graduated from Central High School in 1968 and attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Barb retired in November 2013 from the Academic Resource Center at Viterbo University where she had been employed for nearly 15 years. She was known for her wonderful sense of humor and was well liked by students and colleagues. Before Viterbo, Barb worked for Mayo Clinic Health System - Franciscan Healthcare and for the local office of the American Heart Association.
Until she became ill, Barb was on the board of the 4,000 Foundation and was active with the La Crosse Historical Society. She was also a member of the Wesley United Methodist Church. Barb's interests included travel, reading, birding and railroads. She sold several articles to national retirement magazines.
Barb was preceded in death by her parents of La Crosse, and by her sister Arlene (Jack) Colley of Moyock, N.C. She is survived by cousins, including Pat (Steve) Cuellar and Rita Harris, both of Waupaca, Wisconsin, plus many close friends.
Barb gives many thanks to Mary Lund, Sheila Johnson, Deb and Mike Anderson, Jan and Mark Eriksen, Gundersen Health System Hospice - La Crosse, Hospice of Apache Junction, Arizona, and numerous friends and colleagues who assisted with her care in recent years.
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Patricia J. Michaels (Grimes)
Tomorrow marks the 4th anniversary of the passing of Barb Schroeder. She was a very special person, classmate and friend and everyone that knew her shares in this loss. Barb spent her entire life living in one house and in one neighborhood but gained so many memories in her lifetime. I want to share some of mine with his amazing person. We had a weekend place in Harpers Ferry, IA and Barb would come for the weekend. One of those weekends, she wanted to ride my moped. So off she went, little did we know she never rode one before and didnt know how to brake. It was like watching a rerun of "Lucy", a wacky redhead in action. On Barb's 40th birthday, she catered a birthday party with 200 friends for herself where we did a Dean Martin Roast of her as the subject. So many laughs. For almost 20 years, we spent every Christmas Eve or Christmas Night together. Played a magical game called Five Straight. The first time we played it, started early evening and next thing we knew, it was 5:00 AM. She was always my partner, endless number of laughs. Probably for 10 years or so, we did Easter Brunch somewhere, and either Brunch out or my house for Thanksgiving dinner. And she would come and help me make Christmas cookies as long as I made her favorite, donut holes. Then one day Barb and my husband Al pretended they were private investigators. They were in cognito, hats and dark glasses, tried to follow a car to see where the driver would go. So funny.
One day, Barb called me from the hospital, said she had lung cancer. I immediately rushed to be with her. During her treatment following, I took her every Tues to her radiation visits and then when she felt ok afterwards, we did lunch and visited floral shops, she loved her flowers. Barb had a bucket list, one thing on it was to see the Grand Canyon and since she loved trains, she got to ride a train thru the Canyon. We knew that would be her last vacation which it proved to be. On that Tues before her passing, I went after work to visit her, spent over an hour hearing all about her trip. We laughed and cried. I could see her change before me. Her caregiver said I was the last person to have a conversation with her. She passed a few days later.
As in life, Barb left all of us in class. A wonderful Celebration of Life for her was done with all her favorite things. She loved Olive Garden, popcorn and ice cream. All was served and several did a tribute to her at that Celebration. Unfortunately, I could not participate that day in sharing my memories, too emotional, so now this is my tribute to my good friend and what better place, with her classmates.
RIP Barb, miss you every single day. My favorite quote and it so applies to this beautiful lady, "dont cry because she is gone, be happy she existed". And boy did she.
Eileen Kathy Clauss (Denstad)
Thank you Pat Micheals Grime for a beautiful tribute to Barb. Barb and I lived on the same block and I remember well so many of the play times we had growing up. We played 45s on the record player singing along to Elvis; we rode our bikes everywhere, one time down to the cottage outside Genoa. We formed the Barbleen Club, the dues buying us a popcicle to share. Saturday mornings we went to Doerflingers in the basement looking for the latest “Nancy Drew” book. We tried out for the drama club at Old Central, making it and performing some impromptu comedy. Laughter and fun were a huge part of growing up. Our trip to Destin, Florida was hilarious as Barb crashed someone’s birthday party and we were invited to stay and celebrate. Barb was the star! She is sorely missed as she brought so much humor and laughter into people’s life, and now she is entertaining “above”!
Jan Louise Kiehne (Werner)
In memory of Barb and her giving spirit and zest for life, you can donate to the Random acts of Kindness in her name.