Barbara Lee Welberg, 82

Barbara Lee Stowell was born September 18th, 1943, in Baudette, MN, to Ammon and Pearl Stowell in rural Baudette, MN and grew up in the Baudette area. 
Barb joined John Welberg in holy matrimony, at the end of her junior year on June 18, 1960. They moved to El Monte, California, for a few months and then from there to Denver, Colorado. 
While living in Denver, their firstborn, Carole Jean, arrived on May 23, 1961 in Baudette. Barb came home to have her baby in the hospital where her mom was a nurse. They moved back to Baudette to help John’s dad, Art, on the farm. Grandma Helen Welberg babysat Carole while Barb went back to high school to graduate with John’s step sister, Margo, in 1964.
They moved to Minneapolis, where Barb worked as a drill punch operator at Continental Electronics for a couple of years drilling holes in circuit boards. She said it was a fascinating job. 
On November 28th, 1965, their second daughter, Denise Ellen, was born (also in Baudette to be near her mother). They lived in Minneapolis (Brooklyn Park) until 1970, when they returned to Baudette area permanently. Their first summer back, Barb and John worked on Oak Island for Angle Inn Lodge, owned by Maxine and Garland Bernhardt. In the fall, they started working for John’s brother, Henry, farming. It included the whole family!
Barb worked various small jobs until she started at Rowell Laboratories in 1973. She worked there for 32 years (eventually renamed Solvay Pharmaceuticals) until her health forced her to retire early.  After retirement, she cleaned fish house sleepers in the spring, a job she enjoyed, and she cared dearly for her employer, Sheri and Dan Gibbons. 
After retirement, Barb and John bought a park model trailer at Snow to Sun in Weslaco, TX, where John’s brother Henry and wife Arla lived in the winter.  They would take about five days to drive the trip and visit friends and family along the way. One of the highlights of these trips was visiting step granddaughter, Monique and her family in San Antonio. Barb was so tickled when Monique’s brother, Christopher started calling her Grandma Barb.
After Johnny passed away in 2019, Barb was encouraged to continue to winter in Texas and was surrounded by friends who loved her and helped her out. That first winter, son-in-law Glenn, and grandson, Stuart, went down with her and stayed in their own RV in the same park for the first two months until they were sure Barb would be okay there without them.
Barb was a member of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church and the ladies LWML. She served as president and taught Sunday School in her earlier years. The community will miss her famous oatmeal bread at the annual Bethlehem Lutheran Soup Dinner.
Barb spent most of her spare time with family and friends.  She enjoyed her grandchildren and supported them in many of their school activities and college achievements. Her greatest joy was cooking and baking with them and their friends when they would visit Grandpa and Grandma. She was thrilled to be called Grandma Barb by Glenn’s nieces and nephews, and a few other bonus grandchildren in the area.
She enjoyed scrapbooking with her friends, Denise, and her granddaughters Kintessa and Krystal. She took great pride in organizing photos and preserving them for her family, and she had fun doing it.
Barb began spending a month or more at Denise’s in WI during her migration from Weslaco to Baudette. During that stay, she enjoyed going to garage sales and doing arts and crafts with great-granddaughter Haisley. Krystal and her family camp in the area every weekend in May, and Barb loved being a part of those events. Memorial Day weekend was extra special when they would camp five minutes from Denise at Julie and Darrell Endres; visiting with friends, surrounded by small children, beautiful views, lots of good food, and smores around the campfire. Barb felt comfortable there and couldn’t be happier.
In later years, she took up a hobby she said she would never do, quilting, just so she could hopefully leave one to each grandchild before she passed away.  Once she got started, Barb really enjoyed it and spent hours quilting with friends in Texas and Lake of the Woods on special projects, including donations of quilts to veterans. Barb even passed the interest onto her only grandson Stuart, and they worked on a few quilts together. She expanded her quilting to other quilted projects such as beautiful tree skirts and table runners for family and friends, and blankets and burb rags for Haisley.
Before John’s health declined, Barb and John loved to visit Carole in Oak Creek, Colorado.  One of their favorite activities during their winter trips was sledding down Carole and Tony’s curvy, mile long drive way on the side of the mountain. Barb also enjoyed many hours of baking and playing games with Carole and granddaughter Amanda, and walks to soak in the amazing view.
Barb loved Johnny dearly and never thought she could care about someone like that again.  Over the last year, a very special relationship developed with Gerald (Jerry) Johnson of Warroad. They had big plans to travel together before Jerry’s health declined. Mom and Jerry loved each other, and Mom was happy with him. 
Barbara is survived by her special friend Jerry, daughters Carole (Tony) Quinones of Oak Creek, Co, their daughter Amanda (fiancé Dom Francl) and Tony’s daughter Monique, Denise (Glenn) Canfield of Black Earth, WI and Baudette, and their children Kintessa (Allen) Schroeder of Lincoln, ND, Stuart Canfield of Baudette, and Krystal (Michael) Hewitt of Edgerton, WI, great-granddaughter Haisley Hewitt, sister Donna (Pete) Gawreluk of Minneapolis, MN, step sister-in-law Margo (Darrell) Magnussen of Bemidji, MN, brother-in-law Dave Oneschuck, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews she loved and enjoyed dearly.
Barb was preceded in death by her husband “Barney,” parents, brothers Arnold Stowell, Chuck and his wife Caroline Stowell of Nolalu, ON, sisters O’Detta Freier and husband Al of Baudette, Zella, Wilda, and Helen Stowell of Baudette, Doris (Dave) Oneschuck of Dugald, Manitoba, nephews Charles (Chuckie) Stowell, Ronnie Freier, and Mark Pickett, brother-in-law Henry and wife Arla Welberg.
A Memorial Service for Barbara Lee Welberg of Baudette, age 82, will be held on Friday, July 3, 2026, at 1 PM at First Lutheran Church of Baudette, MN