Submitted by: Dan Rich

Anita L. Barker

Oct. 13, 1923 - Aug. 15, 2000

South Bend Tribune 8/17/2000

Anita L. Barker, 76, was born Anita Pullin on Oct. 13, 1923, and passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000, after a final struggle with heart disease. She was a remarkable woman who leaves behind the memory of a devoted husband, Ralph, who died in 1985; and three surviving sons, Ken, Ron and Paul; seven grandchildren; and a loving sister and brother, Katie Nichols and Gene Pullin.

Most women have a family, but Anita also had an extraordinary circle of friends...Betty, Mary, Mopi, Sarah, Margaret, Marilyn and too many others to mention, including the "girls" in her poker club, and a large group at her winter home in Texas. Many had been close since early childhood. Her poker circle had played monthly with a penny ante and maximum three-cent raise since 1941, interrupted only by death and disability. She held a strong faith and attended church without fail, often singing, directing the choirs, or playing the piano or organ in her younger years. She lived frugally and always maintained an immaculately clean home. She traveled with a sense of appreciation possessed by few, even taking a road-trip in 1948 with her infants, then aged one and four, to Mexico City and on to California. By 1964 she had managed on a vacation budget of $5.00 per day plus gas to shepherd her family through every state in the nation and much of Canada, giving her sons a lasting sense of the importance of education and the grandeur of geography and history. In retirement she continued travel to exotic locales on four continents.

She was gifted in music and the arts and was an extraordinary seamstress. She worked to pass this gift to her granddaughters, succeeding to the extent that one, Katie Barker, this year holds the nation's only NEA Graduate Fellowship in Restoration of Textile Antiquities. Not many grandmas can boast such a legacy. She knew how to have fun and how to live and let live. She knew how to forgive and she knew how to love. Everyone who knew her marveled at her determination to live life to its fullest. All her sons truly believe that if there were a "Mom-Lotto," they would have shared the winning ticket. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her and loved her. Such a wonderful wife, mother, sister and friend!

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20, in the First Methodist Church of Mishawaka, with reception following. Memorial contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church, Mishawaka. Arrangements are being handled by the Thallemer-Goethals Funeral Home, Mishawaka.