Barbara Blanche Forsythe Haug

May 17, 1935-March 31, 2010

I lost my dear Aunt Barbara on March 31st. She was an amazing woman and I feel a great loss.

Aunt Barbara is my mom's sister and was the oldest of five children. I would imagine she was the perfect first child to have. She set a great example to her younger siblings and all her nieces and nephews.

I grew up hearing stories about Aunt Barbara's precociousness as a child (skipping grades), athleticism, award-winning kind of childhood.

I've always admired her no nonsense, make it work attitude. She is the first generation of women who could have a career and a family.

She became an attorney and was always a very involved, devoted mom. She had a great balance. I remember her picking us up from school, often straight from court. She practiced law until the end, she still had clients.

What is remarkable is she did all of this with rheumatoid arthritis that she was diagnosed with in her 30s. She endured pain for a majority of her life, but she carried on, and fiercely. She faced many more health issues along the way, multiple surgeries, many hospital stays, infections, cancer, and other health emergencies. She fought the fight and I mean big time.

She was widowed twenty-six years ago and had to raise and financially support her three children on her own.

She influenced me greatly with her strong personality. She let you know what she expected of you and I never wanted to let her down. She let you know exactly how she felt. The last time I saw her at our family Christmas party she walked right up to me and said "you are too thin". I asked her if that was a compliment or an insult and she said "It's an insult, you're too thin and it doesn't look good". That was classic Aunt Barbara.

I will miss her strength, leadership in our family, and great role modeling. I've always admired her and mourn the loss.