Barbara Larkin

Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the church on Friday. Barbara Larkin, age 73, of Mankato died at her home on Saturday, December 4, 2010. Barbara Jean Larkin was the fourth of five children born to Anson Beatrice (Thompson) Larkin, on July 14, 1937 in Minneapolis, MN. No one knows a lot about how her early childhood years were spent in Minneapolis, but we do know that in 1948 she went to live at Faribault State Hospital, and once there lost contact with her birth family. Barb lived at Faribault until 1976, when she moved into REM Heartland in Mankato, MN, along with many of her friends who also moved out of the state hospital. REM is where most of us here today came to know her and where she created a new family with all of us, both at REM and MRCI where she worked for 34 years. Barb was a woman who was assertive, outgoing and incredibly stubborn.....fun to know and challenging to work with! She formed many close, loving bonds with people who knew and worked with her over the years. With these people...her new family...she appeared to have had a happy, contented, enjoyable life. She loved going to work and her favorite job for years was stuffing newsletters into envelopes for the MRCI Thriftshop, a job the staff at MRCI made sure to keep available for her. If there was no work to do, Barb was always prepared with her own "paperwork" to keep her busy or coloring letters in the newspaper, and she worked on it intently. She loved seeing and doing so many things: Sitting on the porch at her house, drinking coffee smoking her cigarette, watching cars waving at people going by; putting on one of her favorite hats and going to Hilltop HyVee to visit with people there; listening to music (Barb had a vast record collection and loved to be surrounded by music); spending time with family in St. James. Barb's birthday wasn't celebrated on just one day in July. Oh no, she celebrated the entire month with Melissa friends in Mankato, or Karen in St. James, or Maxine in Minneapolis! She reveled in any kind of celebration, whether it was a birthday or a holiday, or people just getting together laughing and talking. Barb loved sharing news with others, and always wanted everyone she cared about to be included. She was also able to travel all over the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin South Dakota. Barbara Jean will be missed by a lot of people. She lived 73 years, and in those years she did a lot and touched a lot of lives. Many hearts reached out to her, and she welcomed them.. At the end of her life Barb said she was ready to go and "live with the angels in heaven", where I'm sure right now she's having a cup of coffee, talking with her beloved friend, Paulette, showing off her newest hat and probably looking down on all of us, waving.... and smiling. We'll miss her. Barb was preceeded in death by "Dad" Stanley Erickson, Grandma Naida Grandpa Hank; best friend and housemate Paulette VonRuden, and Norma Hudson. Survivors include housemates Barbara Smith, Sheryl Bandow, Betty Shroeder; Melissa (Grandma") Trent Hudson and family; Guardians Caleb Melissa Curry family; "Mom" Maxine Erickson; Twylla (Erickson) Doug; the extended families of Curry's, Trickel's and Burke's; REM Gambrelle staff friends; REM Heartland friends; MRCI friends; HyVee Hilltop friends; and numerous, unmentioned friends who are so thankful that they had Barb in their lives.