Barbara L. Buentemeier, 79

Barbara L. Buentemeier of Columbia Falls “went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” Monday, Dec. 19, 2011. She passed away as a result of a staph infection-induced stroke at Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell.

Barbara was born April 15, 1932, in Great Falls to Henry and Marian Larkin and was raised there until 1942. When her dad enlisted in the Marines, she boarded with a German family in Buckley, Wash., while her mom welded in the shipyards, then moved to Wichita, Kan., while her mother worked for Boeing, then to LaVerne, Calif., for a year when her dad was manager of an orange grove following the completion of his military service.

In 1946, they returned to Montana to Columbia Falls, where her folks had previously  bought acreage and built a cabin where the aluminum plant is today. Barbara attended Columbia Falls High School, and after graduation married Will Warner on June 10, 1950. To that union, two children were born, Randy in 1951, and Peggy in 1953.

 Her work career included being a telephone operator, cooking for her husband’s logging crew in the North Fork at Coal Creek in the early ’50s, and working as a bookkeeper for 29 years for their logging and road construction  company. They moved to the LaSalle area north of the airport in 1957.

She was clerk on the LaSalle School board, did inventory work for Montgomery Ward, worked on election boards at LaSalle and Columbia Falls schools and was the first woman hired to drive a school bus in the Flathead. She drove the bus for her dad on a Columbia Falls District No. 6 route for many years.

Barbara was active in Royal Neighbors and the Rocky Mountain Riders Saddle Club, and held many offices in both for 20-plus years. She was also a 4-H leader of the Country Cousins 4-H Club for four years, when the kids were members. In April 1970, she accompanied the Columbia Falls band on a tour to Europe as a chaperone, a trip that she thoroughly enjoyed.

She was divorced in 1974. She married Ronald Buentemeier on March 11, 1975.

Barbara became a very active advocate for the timber industry, supporting Ron’s association with F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. and his forestry career. She  was a loving wife and was especially proud of Ron when he became general manager of Stoltze.

She was the first president of the Northwest chapter of Women in Timber, which started in 1979, and held this office several times. She was also Montana state president of Women in Timber several times. She was president of Federated Women in Timber twice, and at one point was president of all three organizations at the same time.

In 1985, she was honored at the Montana Logging Association Convention as Woman of the Year. She made two educational trips to Washington, D.C., with Federated Women in Timber. She enjoyed setting up education projects, fair displays and working on annual funding.

Ron and Barbara enjoyed attending logging conferences together around the Northwest. In 1980 they, along with her parents, traveled to the Pacific Logging Conference Forestry Tour of Europe — a trip she thoroughly enjoyed.

She joined Ron as a member of the Flathead Pioneers Auto Club in 1975, and enjoyed his love of old cars and trucks and made many trips to shows. She enjoyed helping him with car restoration, except sanding was not her favorite pastime! She designed, cut out and organized three ballroom themes for their car club conventions.

They also enjoyed working on their cabin at Ashley Lake.

Barbara was an active member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Columbia Falls, and especially the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, where she held the office of secretary for many years. She was a very creative and organized individual and blessed the group with many innovative ideas and talents. She especially loved making beautiful quilts, tops and serging diapers and baby blankets on her serger for Lutheran World Relief and local agencies.

She was an avid geranium and begonia grower and loved caring for her greenhouse, flower and vegetable gardens and house plants.

She is survived by her husband, Ronald; daughter, Peggy, and son-in-law, Bill Hoppe; grandchildren, Brandi Fehrenbach, Coty and Jessica Warner, and Scot and Melinda Warner; great-grandchildren, Trevor and Korren Fehrenbach, and Skyler, Kiya, Genesis and Century Warner; brother, Scot, and Steph Larkin; stepbrother, Gene, and Mary Darling; brother-in-law, Mike, and Lori Buentemeier; niece, Breanne Buentemeier; and very dear friend, Althea Marratt.

Barbara was preceded in death by her son, Randy, in 1992; and by her parents.

A memorial service will be held for Barbara at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Columbia Falls, 640 Seventh St. W., with Pastor Matt Nelson officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 2005, Columbia Falls; or Montana Women In Timber, 1370 Fourth Ave. W.N., Columbia  Falls, MT 59912.

Arrangements are entrusted to Columbia Mortuary in Columbia Falls. You are invited to visit www.columbiamortuary.com to offer condolences, share memories and view Barbara’s tribute wall.