Mary Gervase (Gerry) Barron

Mary Gervase (Gerry) Barron, the daughter of John and Agnes Leonard Beecher, was born January 29, 1924 at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa and died September 24, 2012 at the Audubon County Memorial Hospital in Audubon, Iowa at the age of 88 years, 7 months, and 26 days. At the time of her death, Gervase resided at her home in Audubon. Gervase was baptized and confirmed in Nolan Settlement, Iowa. She attended rural school near Elmira, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa City High with the Class of 1942. She then attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City for two years. After college she was employed by United Airlines in Des Moines, Iowa. On June 7, 1948 Gervase was united in marriage to Matthew P. Barron at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Iowa City. Nine children were born to this union. In 1950 they moved to Coon Rapids, Iowa where she was a homemaker raising her children and an active member in the Annunciation Catholic Church. In 1963 they made their home in Audubon, Iowa where she continued to be a homemaker. Matthew died January 4, 2000. Gervase was a member of the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Audubon for almost 50 years. She enjoyed quilting with the St. Patrick’s Catholic Women and volunteering with Caring & Sharing. She also enjoyed baking cookies for the ecumenical Connection Cafe in Des Moines. But most of all she loved spending time with her children and grandchildren. Gervase was preceded in death by her husband Matthew P. Barron; her brother John Beecher, Jr.; her brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: James Feeney; James and Anne Barron; Jim and Mary Sullivan; James and Monica Morrissey; Tom and Amy Barron; Vince Barron; Peter and Kay Karpan; and Tony and Marge Buban. Survivors include her children: Mary Anne and Cliff Fairley of Portland, Oregon; Martha Barron and Gene Orza of Redmond, Washington; Margaret and William Allard of San Francisco, California; Joan and Wade Nelson of Kansas City, Missouri; Patricia Barron and Keith Petersen of Rock Island, Illinois; Barbara and Kurt Johnson of Audubon, Iowa; Sarah and Dan Christensen of Audubon; Joseph Barron and Roberta Gilbert of Des Moines, Iowa; Sheila Barron Colton and Dean Colton of Solon, Iowa; her grandchildren: Elena Fairley, Byron Fairley, Greta Tubbesing, Jill Tubbesing, Laura Tubbesing, Carmen Tubbesing, Richard Allard, Matthew Allard, Corwin Nelson, Erin Nelson and her husband Joe Koster, Meghan Nelson and her partner Tessa Burchardt, Kevin Petersen, Rachel Petersen, Alec Johnson, Dana Johnson, Ruby Johnson, William Christensen, Elizabeth Christensen, Joseph Christensen, Lee Colton, Grace Colton, and Alan Colton; her great grandsons: Miles Miller and Edmund Svoboda; her sister Patrice Feeney of Scottsdale, Arizona; her sister-in-law Norma Beecher of West Branch, Iowa; nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Cemetery:
Interment will be in the St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in Audubon.

Visitation:
The family will meet friends Wednesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. at the Kessler Funeral Home in Audubon.

Service:
The Mass of Christian Burial will be held Thursday, September 27, 2012, at 10:30 A.M at the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Audubon, Iowa.