Barbara Buentemeier

Barbara L. Buentemeier 79, of Columbia Falls, went to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on 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 raised there until 1942. When her dad enlisted in the Marines, she boarded with a German family in Buckley, Wash., while her mother welded in the shipyards, then moved to Wichita, Kan., while her mother worked for Boeing, then to LaVerne, Calif., for a year when her father 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 1950s and 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 school bus in the Flathead. She drove bus for her father on a Columbia Falls District 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 which 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 Company 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 since. She was also Montana state president of Women in Timber several times, 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 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.

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

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

A memorial service was held for Barbara on Dec. 27, 2011, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Columbia Falls, 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 MT 59912 or Montana Women In Timber, 1370 Fourth Avenue WN, Columbia Falls MT 59912.