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Submitted: 4/14/24 • Approved: 4/22/24 • Last Updated: 4/25/24 • R275827-G275825-S3
Barbara Ann Blue
May 12, 1933 – December 26, 2023
Barbara Blue, age 90, of Lead, South Dakota passed away Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at Ava’s House in Sioux Falls after a serious fall on Christmas Day. She had recently moved to Sioux Falls with her husband, Bob, and they were residing at Touchmark at All Saints.
Barbara was born to Lawrence Thompson and Dorothy (Atwood) Thompson on May 12, 1933 in Colton, South Dakota. She had two older siblings, Enid and Lloyal. Barbara attended grade school in Colton and Beaver Creek, Minnesota where she graduated from high school in 1951.
As a teenager she worked for neighbors who needed help with cooking and cleaning. She mastered hand-whipped angel food cakes and baking fresh cookies each day for the farmhands.
After high school she worked in downtown Sioux Falls as a receptionist and switchboard operator at Northern States Power Company for nine years. During this time she met her future husband, Bob Blue, while at a dance at the Roof Garden Ballroom at Lake Okoboji.
Bob and Barb were married on February 13, 1955 and settled into their new brick home which they built together on the corner of 33rd Street and Grange Avenue in Sioux Falls. They were blessed with two sons, Daniel and David. They had an active family life at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Boy Scouts, and growing the family construction business, Blue Masonry. They moved to Terry Peak in the Black Hills in 1978 and built a lumber business and Ace Hardware named Blue’s Building Center.
Barb had a passion to feed souls—both from her own kitchen and any of her cherished church homes which included Our Savior’s Lutheran, Victory Lutheran in Mesa, Arizona and Shepherd of the Hills in Lead. She served as a Sunday school teacher, Circle leader, sang in the choir, and helped cook lutefisk dinners. Her caring spirit extended to delivering Meals-on-Wheels, visiting the homebound, and volunteering for the school PTA, United Commercial Travelers of America, and serving in the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was nominated for South Dakota Mother of the Year in 1977.
Grateful for having shared her life are her husband, Bob, and her son Dan and wife Becky of Sioux Falls, children—Ian (Paige), Julia (Luke Thompson), Elliot (Kara), and Mason (Ellie); and her son David and wife Darla of Colorado Springs, and daughters—Jami Mark (Travis), Colten and Troyer, and Jeni Moede (Adam), Brooklyn and Madison.
Visitation with a prayer service and refreshments will be held Friday, December 29th at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 5500 East 57th Street in Sioux Falls from 10 am - 12 noon with a burial service to follow at Woodlawn Cemetery.
A Celebration of Life Memorial service will held Saturday, February 3rd, 2024 at 11 am at Barb and Bob’s home church in Lead, South Dakota, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran with lunch to follow. Barbara loved to call family and friends to her table with “come sit!” Please join us as we praise the Lord in Word and song for this woman of faith.
Contributed on 4/14/24 by 9katz
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Record #: 275827