Barbara Mary Kerkhoff

Barbara Mary Kerkhoff was born into eternal life on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, after a long battle with dementia. Barb’s family would like to thank the kind and patient workers at Sylvan Crossings for their understanding and care of Barb for the past year and a half.

Barb was born in Milwaukee on February 28, 1936, to John and Barbara Galian. Barb’s parents were immigrants from Croatia (then Yugoslavia) who did not speak English when they came to America, so Barb did not learn English until she entered first grade. Barb’s parents ran a rooming house, and Barb had to help clean all three stories of the house growing up. She attended Mercy Catholic High School and started working as a legal secretary at Talsky & Talsky in her junior year. She would continue working there after graduation and until she moved to Iola.

Barb loved to dance, and would go to the Eagle’s Club in Milwaukee, where she met Jim Kerkhoff. A year later, on October 26, 1958, they were married. They lived in Milwaukee until Jim decided to pursue his dream of owning his own dairy farm, and they moved to Iola in 1969. Barb began working at the electric co-op in Iola, where she stayed for 24 years until she retired to spend more time with her grandchildren.

Barb enjoyed knitting and sewing, working on jigsaw puzzles, kittens, lilacs, and shamrock shakes, but her family was the thing that gave her the most joy. She spent the last four years missing her beloved Jim, and now they are reunited in heaven.

Barb was preceded in death by her beloved husband Jim, her son Dave, her brother Steve, her sister Mary, her parents, and her sister-in-law Dorothy. She is survived by her daughter Mary (Mark) Vaughan, her grandchildren Jesse, Stephie, Casey and Annie, several nieces and nephews, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law, and numerous relatives in Croatia.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Barbara at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 26, 2023 at St. Adalbert Catholic Church, 3315 St. Adalberts Rd., Rosholt. Friends and family are invited to gather and share memories at the church on Wednesday from 10 a.m. until the time of service. Burial will follow at St. Adalbert Cemetery.

Shuda Funeral Chapel is honored to assist the family. Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.shudafuneral.com.