Barbara J. Arndt
Barbara Jean Arndt passed away on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at Liberty House Assisted Living in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin at the age of 87 while holding the hands of her both her son Robert “Robbie” Arndt and his wife Rose.
Barbara was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado on November 19, 1929 to William Bennett Chapman and Margaret Druehl Chapman. She met the love of her life, Leon Arndt (who was then stationed at Fort Hale), at a USO dance that her mother had taken her to in the early 1940s. Barbara and Leon courted for several years and were married on August 27, 1950 in her parent’s Colorado Springs home.
Prior to her marriage, Barbara worked at JC Penney in the candy department, and then left Colorado to attend art school in Kansas City and then Layton Art School in Milwaukee. After her marriage, she moved to Eden, Wisconsin to begin life on the Arndt family farm with Leon, where she lived until moving to Liberty House Assisted Living in September 2016.
Barbara continued her art education in the 1960s by attending UW-Oshkosh, where she earned a bachelors degree in art, and then started teaching art at various schools in Fond du Lac.
After teaching art for 3 years, she started working at Giddings & Lewis where she worked for 20 years before retiring from there. Barbara loved to sew, cook, and garden, but she never lost her love of art and became a highly skilled calligrapher.
Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Leon, and a grand-daughter Katrina Arndt, and is survived by her brother Frank Chapman of Sunnyvale, CA, her children Nancy (Darryl) Travis of Newport News, VA, Robert “Robbie” (Rose) Arndt of Eden, WI, and Karen Arndt of Denver, CO. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 11 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 347 S Country Lane, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Barbara will be buried at a private burial at Empire Cemetery in Empire, Wisconsin.
The Twohig Funeral Home is serving the family with online condolences and guestbook at www.twohigfunerals.com