Mary Kay Barth

Mary Kay Barth, residing in South Bend, IN went to her eternal home with the Lord Saturday, September 22, 2018. Mary was born September 11, 1956 in South Bend to the late James and Patricia (Cox) Miller. Mary was a lifelong resident of South Bend but did enjoy travelling especially to Arizona and Nevada. Mary married Richard Barth July 21, 1979. Through this marriage she gained a daughter, Angie, and then, a few years later, had daughter Sarah. Mary worked in a variety of occupations including office work at McCormick & Company, a photography assistant at Notre Dame, and a special education teaching assistant for Eggleston and Wilson schools in the South Bend School Corporation. When Sarah was in elementary school Mary also cared for kids out of her home whose lives she touched to this day; and ran a successful antiques and collectibles business on eBay for several years. Most recently Mary kept very busy helping care for her youngest two grandchildren for the past 9 years.

Grandma Mary aka “Grandmare” had a very special bond with her grandkids. She went above and beyond to enjoy every moment she had with them whether it was searching for toads at the fields of Eggleston school, enjoying arcade games at Hackers, playing basketball, taking walks, or “hammering down” with Papa Rick (“Pops”) on the speedboat. Mary was like a second mother to many of Sarah’s friends and neighbors. She was caring and altruistic. She was a dedicated Notre Dame and Cubs fan and very passionate about politics, especially civil rights. Mary loved music, art, writing, reading, poetry, mysteries and antiques. She was intelligent, funny, and never afraid to speak her mind.

Mary was preceded in death by her mother, Patricia (Cox) Miller; father, James Miller; a brother, James Miller, Jr.; sisters, Rita Miller, Donna Paidle and Carole Miller; and nephew, Frank Chiszar. Mary leaves behind her husband Rick, daughters Sarah (Derek) Ressler of South Bend; Angie (Dan) Handley of Statesboro, GA; five grandchildren—Kaisee Handley of Columbus, OH, Riley and Ryan Handley of Statesboro, GA, and Elijah and Aleyah Ressler of South Bend; five sisters, Kim Bingaman of Mishawaka, Patti Meadows of Mishawaka, Judi McDonald (Mike) of Texas, Jackie Rinehart of Michigan, and Tina Miller (Kevin) of Niles, MI and 10 nieces and nephews.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date in October and details will follow. Mary loved animals would have loved donations in her honor to https://www.aspca.org/ (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) especially in lieu of the animals in crisis from the recent hurricane.

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” –Maya Angelou

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