Blanche Barr 1920 - 2005

BARR, SAMMONS, MESSER, SWAILES, BENNETT, BOUGE, BYERS, DECK, THORNTON

Posted By: A.M.W. (email)
Date: 3/3/2006 at 23:21:04

Blanche Barr, 84, of Mt. Pleasant, died Tuesday, February 15, 2005, at the Pleasant Manor Care Center.

Visitation will be held from 12:00-8:00 p.m. Thursday at the Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel where the family will receive friends from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. that evening. Funeral services will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church with Abbott Michael-John and the Rev. Gary Caldwell officiating. Burial will be in the White Oak Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established to the Pleasant Manor Care Center Activity Fund and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church.

Blanche Esther Barr was born May 12, 1920, in Henry County. She was the daughter of JoSephus and Alma Sammons Messer. She attended the White Oak School and was a member of the White Oak rural community.

She was united in marriage to Clifford W. “Bill” Barr. He preceded her in death in October of 1979. Blanche worked in the restaurant business for several years. She owned and operated various establishments, including the 34 Grill, the Hi Hat and the North Star Restaurants.

Blanche was a member of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church and the V.F.W. Auxiliary. She enjoyed embroidering, reading and spending time with her grandchildren.

Survivors include two daughters, Madeline and her husband Jim Swailes and Alma and her husband Kent Bennett, all of Mt. Pleasant, IA; five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She is also survived by one sister, Betty Bouge of Yuma, AZ.

Blanche was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, a daughter Joyce Byers Deck, a brother Robert Messer and by a sister Wilma Thornton.