BARBARA’s Obituary Barbara Ann (neé Jecevicus) Goetzelman; passed into God’s keeping on May 6, 2019. She was born November 19, 1947 in Waukegan, IL the first child of Peter Albert and Barbara Ann (neé Buchta) Jecevicus. In her early childhood, she lived with her family on several farms that her father managed.
In 1957 they moved to Colby, WI to a farm her parents had purchased, and her love of cows and dairy farming grew there. She was the first girl at Colby High School to take agriculture classes and she continued that interest at the University of River Falls, where she majored in Animal Science and minored in Theater. It was the theater at college where she met William W. Goetzelman and they were married on August 26, 1967, moving to Waukegan, IL where their first child Sara Jane was born.
In 1970 Bill’s teaching career brought them to Antioch, IL where their second child, Stephen William, was born. She also had lived in Kenosha, WI and Lake Tomahawk, WI. Barbara worked for Northland Gardens, 3M Co., and Lasco Florist, before beginning as the Secretary of the Antioch United Methodist Church in June of 1975.
She worked for the Church, supporting seven pastors for 33 years before her retirement in 2008. The Church also became Barbara’s faith community where she made so many of her cherished lifelong friends. Barbara also founded Telecare in 1973, a ministry offering daily phone calls to shut-ins in the area which is still operating today.
She also began a ministry that would send The Upper Room Magazine and a personal letter to the church shut-ins, and she personally spent many hours of her time sending personal notes of care and concern to those whom she knew needed their spirits lifted. While Barbara was growing up on the farm, she was responsible for milking a string of cows before she could get ready to catch the school bus. She grew up knowing how to milk cows, pick rocks (not her favorite job), and acquired a strong sense of responsibility because of her chores on the family farm.
Barbara baked amazing bread using her Grandmother’s recipe and she would give away loaves of bread as gifts at the holidays. Anyone that received her bread knew it was treasure! Barbara also knew how to make florist bows, hang insulation, and “mud” sheetrock.
She loved to arrange flowers, cross stitch, crochet (in her lifetime she made over 700 afghans, prayer shawls, baby hats, baby blankets, and baby sweaters as gifts for family, friends, and for the prayer shawl ministry at the Church. She loved reading, her yard and flowers, art, traveling, and most important her family. She was an accomplished amateur artist who took art classes in Antioch from Jane Craner for many years.
She also volunteered at the Lake County Fair for years and became the Art Superintendent of the painting department where she met many wonderful artists. She was also a founding member of the Antioch Fine Arts Foundation. Barbara loved the outdoors, especially hiking annually at her favorite happy place on the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota.
One of her other hiking accomplishments included: backpacking into the Grand Canyon with three friends, taking the South Kaibob Trail down to the bottom and spending four days at Phantom Ranch before hiking out the Bright Angel Trail. And to celebrate her 60th. Birthday, she hiked part of the Green Ridge Trail on Isle Royale with her close friend Nancy.
Barbara has had several medical challenges through her years and remained focused on continuing her normal activities, as long as, she physically could, and kept a busy schedule volunteering and visiting those in need throughout those challenges. She is survived by: her husband Bill; children: Sara and Stephen; a brother Peter (Susie) Jecevicus of Colby, WI; sisters: Janie (Terry) Smith of Verona, WI and Marlene (Jim) Parks of Minneapolis, MN, as well as, many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, other relatives, and friends. A Celebration of Barbara’s Life will be held 12 Noon Saturday June 1, 2019 at the Antioch United Methodist Church 848 Main St. (Rte.
83) Antioch, IL 60002, with visitation beginning at 10AM. Interment will be held at a later date in Wilderness Rest Cemetery, Lake Tomahawk, WI. In lieu of flowers, Barbara would appreciate if you would share a bouquet or plant with someone whose spirit you know needs lifting.
Memorial donations are requested for the scholarship program at the United Methodist Church or the Lakes Region Historical Society. Arrangements were entrusted to the STRANG FUNERAL HOME OF ANTIOCH. Please sign the online guestbook for Barbara at www.
strangfh.com.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
