Barbara Durm
July 28, 1935 — October 23, 2016
Barbara Ellen Durm, age 81 of Niles, Michigan died peacefully at 9:03 p.m. on Sunday, October 23, 2016 with family gathered around at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka, Indiana following a brief illness.
She was born on July 28, 1935 in Niles at the family home on Thirteenth Street to Raymond E. and Bertha (Sheets) Ramsby. She graduated from Niles High School, and has lived here all of her life. She was employed by the U. S. Postal Service as a rural letter carrier for the Niles Post Office, and was a member of the National Rural Letter Carrier Association.
Barbara was a member of Saint Mary Catholic Church in Niles, where she was a Eucharistic Minister and was a volunteer at the Berrien County Youth Fair. She enjoyed knitting and crochet, and made a blanket for each great-grandchild. She would often be found in the kitchen baking, and was well-known for her exceptional chocolate chip cookies and rolls. She had a great appreciation for the outdoors, especially during the winters on Sanibel Island, Florida.
On January 24, 1953 at Saint Mary Catholic Church she married Charles E. Durm with whom she celebrated earlier this year the remarkable Sixty-third anniversary of their wedding.
Barbara was preceded in death by a 13 month old daughter, Sharon in 1963, her parents and by her sisters, Loretta Antoniu, Joan Bixby, and Verda Albert and a brother, Charles Ramsby.
Surviving family includes her husband, Charles Durm and their children, Charles R. (Cindi) Durm of Cody, Wyoming, Joan (Raulf) Noffsinger of Scottsdale, Arizona and Nancy (Bill) Messner, Pamela Murphy, Robert (Gail) Durm, and Carrie (Tim) George, all of Niles; seventeen grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
The Mass of Christian Burial for Barbara Durm will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 27, 2016 at Saint Mary Catholic Church in Niles by the Rev. Christian Johnston of the parish. Committal Rites will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Niles.
The family will receive relatives and friends from 2:00 until 4:00 and 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the Halbritter Funeral Home in Niles with recitation of The Rosary at 7:30 p.m. Contributions in memory of Barbara may be made to the Sheep Department of the Berrien County Youth Fair.