Mary M Barman

BLACK EARTH/CROSS PLAINS-Our dear mother, Mary M. Barman, born Nov 13, 1928, spent 88 glorious years with us, passing very peacefully into eternal life in the loving care of the wonderful staff (Amber, Lindsey, Sarah, Tina, Christina, Steph & Val to name a few) at Heartland Country Village.  She was born in the town of Cross Plains, the daughter of the deceased Wolfgang and Margaret (Wipperfurth) Maier, the 2nd last of 9 children.  Mary was united in marriage to Joseph M. Barman (parents Joseph & Theresa) on June 3, 1953, at St. Francis Xavier Church where they remained lifelong, faithful members. Joe preceded her in death in 2007.  After general weakness made living life to the fullest more and more difficult with each passing day, mom decided it was time to meet, not only her heavenly father, but to be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven by her loving husband, Joe, of 54 years, and her 7 siblings (Sue, Herman, Bertha, Al, Frannie, Ben, and Joe) that went before her.  She loved and was so very proud of her large and extended family, and was always happy when someone dropped in for a visit.  She was a hard-working farming wife to our dad her entire life until their retirement from the farm in 1994.  In those years, she loved to tend to a big garden, canning much of what she grew.  She enjoyed flowers; just never grew many as they had no nutritional value!  She was also a wonderful cook,   baker of lemon meringue pies for the church picnic, and of course her famous "5-humped" homemade bread which everyone fought over at the CCW Bake Sales! And everything she baked had to have hickory nuts, which dad would hand pick out every winter.  Her more "fun" hobbies included crocheting, needlepoint, going to polka dances on Saturday nights, playing cards and writing very long letters.  She later used that writing talent to become the author of the column "HAVE A GOOD WEEK" for 25+ years that was published weekly in the News Sickle Arrow.  She retired from that job a year ago due to health issues.  After dad died, she took over the annual "winter nut-picking" ritual, always going along to the woods to help gather the nuts on beautiful fall days with her kids and grandkids.  She also recently took up making beautiful colored rosaries which she mailed to nuns in third-world countries.  And on a quiet Sunday afternoon, her favorite hobby was heading to Ho-Chunk for some video poker fun!  In Dec, she graced many lucky households with a hand-written Christmas letter where she used up every inch of the card to share the most recent news of her life. A few lucky folks even received some of the very last batch of Pfeffer Nuts that she baked with love the week before Christmas. Mary is survived by her 8 children, Dan (Mary), Mike (Cathy), John (Cheryl), Mary Ann (Pat) Troge, Mark (Monica), Joe (Karen), Paul and Bill (Janell), 24 grandkids; Mel, Brad, Adam, Laurie, & Andrea; Tina, Steph & Holly; Jess, Darci & Adrienne; Austin & Kendra; Ashley, Jeramie, Tori & Nicole; Tyler & Kristen; and Jerad (all Barmans) and Matt, Chris, Kait & Kenzie Troge;   She was also blessed with 7 great grandchildren. Other survivors include a sister, Sister Lenora Maier, brother-in-law Alfred Barman, and sister-in-law Joanne (Pat) Statz. A Mass of Resurrection will be held at ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH, 2947 Thinnes St, Cross Plains, at 11am on Wed, Feb 1, 2017 with Fr. Tom Kelley & Fr. Healy presiding.  Burial will be in the church cemetery.  Visitation will be held at the church on Tues, Jan. 31, from 4 until 7pm and also on Wed from 10am until time of service at 11am