Lillian M. Barta

Lillian was born on a cold March 3, 1922 in a farmhouse in Burleson Country, Texas, the first child of John Vavra and Christina Hlavaty Vavra. She lived in Texas for most of her life. She grew up with her baby brother, Andrew Vavra, in Caldwell, a closeknit community of Czech-speaking immigrants. Her family were sharecroppers for many years before buying their own farm. She sometimes wore clothes made of feed sacks as a child and remembered doing her homework by the light of a kerosene lamp. When she entered school, no one in her first grade class other than the teacher spoke English. Her family owned a model T Ford. She hated to pick cotton. Her family survived the Great Depression more easily than many others because they lived on a farm. Her best friend was named Hazel.

In high school she was active in 4-H and raised chickens. She graduated Caldwell High School in 1939. After high school, she worked in a grocery store for a while.

She met her future husband, Ernest Anton Barta, through his cousin, Barney Baren, while she was in high school. Their first (double) date was to a movie on March 3, 1939. and they were married in Leesville, Louisiana on Dec 20, 1942. She was a war bride. They had two children, Kathryn and Patrick.

The family moved from Bryan to San Antonio in 1958, and from San Antonio to Corpus Christi in 1967. When her husband Ernest retired,they moved back to Bryan in 1974. There, they enjoyed an active retirement among friends and family. They returned to San Antonio again in 1994. While there, she continued to be active in family and church activities.

Her husband Ernest died on December 20, 2005, their 62nd wedding anniversary.

They liked to dance to big-band music and Lillian was fond of saying that she and Ernest never let the sun go down on any disagreement between them. Both were devout and active members of the Catholic church.

She passed away peacefully on July 14, 2021 at Honey's House in Helotes. Among the staff there, she was known for her unfailing habit of saying "thank you" whenever they did anything for her and she enjoyed the root beer floats they made for her almost every day. In her final year of life, COVID restrictions made it difficult for her to be with family members, so she participated in Zoom video conference calls with them almost every Sunday.

She was fond of cooking (which she started at age 9), sewing and quilting. She was known to her family and friends as an excellent cook and family favorites included her pickles, dewberry pies (a favorite of her husband), chicken noodle soup made with homemade noodles and kolaches, a Czech pastry. One of her hobbies was sewing individual blankets for children, and she donated many of them to charity. Her blankets inspired a Blanket Project program at a Baltimore hospital, in which blankets were given to palliative care patients. She gifted many beautiful handsewn quilts to family members. Throughout her life, she had an affection for dogs, and was very devoted to them.

She was healthy almost all of her life, and attributed this to being raised on a farm and drinking unpasteurized milk. Her cheerful, forgiving disposition was an inspiration to everyone she met, and she always reminded people to "drive friendly."

She is survived by her daughter Kathryn Michalec and son-in-law, Alfred Michalec of

Helotes, and her son Patrick Barta, and her daughter-in-law, Carla Jackson of Baltimore, MD. She is also survived by 4 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Memorials may be made to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN, 38105.

She will be buried with her husband at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio on August 2, 2021.