Barbara Ellen Erbe

Barbara Ellen Erbe, 75, of Rochester, MN, died on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, at Sunrise Senior Living in Rochester, after a battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Memorial services will be at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, at the First Congregation United Church of Christ, 100 1st Street N.E. - Mason City, IA, with Rev. Patricia Aurand officiating. Inurnment will be at the Osage Cemetery in Osage, IA. Donations may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association (912 Killian Hill Road, SW, Lilburn, GA 30047) or Hospice. Barb was born on January 26, 1937, reared in Mason City, Iowa, and was the eldest of four children of Carl and Mildred Erbe. She graduated from Mason City High School, attended Mason City Junior College, and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. Following college she moved to Minneapolis, and worked for a time in the retail field. She then moved to and established her career in Rochester, Minnesota where she worked as a social worker with the Minnesota Department of Human Services. She retired after 38 years of service, having worked primarily in the state mental health system. Barb was an avid University of Iowa Hawkeye football fan and attended many games and alumni events with her partner and fellow alumnus W. Lowell Quirk, who survives her at Sunrise Senior Living. In her youth, she worked many summers as a camp counselor at Girl Scout Camp Gaywood in Clear Lake, Iowa. Barb also was an avid gourmet cook and enjoyed experimenting on her many friends and family with her dining concoctions. She was a talented needle pointer and water color painter, enjoyed playing golf and bridge, and loved traveling, fishing and Garrison Keillor. Barb is survived by her brothers, Robert Erbe of Pahrump, NV; Douglas Erbe and his wife Kim of Mason City, Iowa, and her sister, Suzanne Bohn of Broomfield, Colorado; nephews Geoffrey Bohn and his wife Brett of Arlington, Virginia; David Bohn of Chicago, Illinois; Steven Bohn of Westminster, Colorado; and niece Barbara Tingle and her husband Kyle of Arvada, Colorado. She was preceded in death by her parents

Cemetery:
Inurnment will be at the Osage Cemetery in Osage, IA

Donations may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association (912 Killian Hill Road, SW, Lilburn, GA 30047) or Hospice

Service:
Memorial services will be at 11:00 AM on Tuesday, September 4, 2012, at the First Congregation United Church of Christ