Barbara E. Ferrenbach

Barbara was born to Harold and Emma Lippert, Oct. 17, 1929. She graduated Webster Groves high school in 1947, and earned a Bachelors degree from Washington University in 1951 with a double major in History and English, and a minor in Geology. She worked for the next 3 years at the St Louis Aeronautical Chart Plant drawing topographical maps from areal photos.

Barbara married her late husband, Lee C Ferrenbach, Jr in Oct.1952, and after starting a family, focused her energies on raising the children along with many outside interests. In addition to volunteering with her children’s schools and her parish, she was a candlemaker and weaver, and she worked extensively with Craft Alliance Gallery & the Repertory Theatre. But, Barbara’s greatest devotions were to her family, friends and her Catholic faith.

Barbara was loving mother of Judith Ferrenbach, Lee (Barb) Ferrenbach, III and

Suzanne Ferrenbach; grandmother of Lee Ferrenbach, IV and Victoria (David)

Samuels; great-grandmother of 2, and beloved friend to all who knew her.

SERVICE: January 27th, Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, Webster Groves, MO. Visitation begins at 9:30am & Mass at 11:00am. Interment is at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to “Birthright St Louis” in Barbara’s memory, are greatly appreciated

As a family, we’d like to each share a little with you about our sweet mother & grandmother:

From Judith: Mom loved the arts of all sorts...she was essentially a history buff/interior designer as evidenced by our home and the Early American Primitive antiques she and Pop bought. She loved the art museum, & crafts, & surrounding herself with functional beauty, like pottery & the handmade table they bought on Nantucket which we had in our dining room the last 30+ years. She also loved the performing arts and was involved with the Backers Board of the St. Louis Rep where she worked as a volunteer in Company Care and got to meet so many of the wonderful actors who came in from out of town. Add to this, years of season tickets to the Muny & the Symphony, while also enjoying other more contemporary music groups like IL Divo! We grew up dancing around the house to all the sound tracks of the musicals, and we went crazy as "The Halls of the Mountain King" played on the stereo! Andy Williams singing "Moon River" is seared into my memory. This gave ME a love of the arts and when I ended up pursuing an MFA in acting at NYU, she and Pop were very supportive and never told me it was a silly choice. She loved my singing, & when she saw video of some of the acting work I did, I appreciated her looking at me and saying, "You are really good"... Her ability to dig in and passionately pursue her interests ingrained something in me that has helped me live a life filled with art and beauty.

From Lee: To me, my mother represents Peace & Love. She was Kind, gentile, warm and Loving. As a child, she was everything I could ask for in a mother and as an adult, everything I needed to help make my way through life. She was the most supportive person a child or adult could ask to have in their life. No matter what my challenge was, what I was faced with, or how deep a hole I dug myself into, she always managed to find the right words to say, and would point to the light at the end of the tunnel. She always had a positive spin on the situation and life itself. She was the biggest positive influence in my life and also in the lives of my friends and people that were lucky enough to meet and know her. She taught me how to live my life with passion and love.

My mom lived her life always looking at the good in people and all things God created. She loved the four seasons. She loved the long warm days of summer. Fall with its crisp morning air and beautiful colors. A snowy day in winter was perhaps one of God’s most amazing gifts to her. Then spring, with its rejuvenating power, beautiful flowers, and the promise of longer, warmer days ahead. To her, these were all examples of Gods love.

I never saw an end to her positive outlook on the world and of life. She always focused on the good in all people and prayed for everyone, friends and strangers alike. She always said "there isn’t a problem in the world that prayer can’t conquer".

She would say to me that her children were God’s gift to her, but the truth was, she was God’s gift to everyone that knew her.

From Suzy: My mother’s biggest gift to me was planting the seed of faith in me & nurturing it with her constant prayers & the way she lived her life. She was a convert to Catholism with a deep devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the eucharist and she was passionate about the sanctity of all life. She carried her rosary & her Sacred Heart badge in her pocket daily as constants reminders to pray, and pray she did! She spoke out loud to God about everything, ALL DAY LONG!! She was big on the power of praise and thanksgiving and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. She had a deep love of scripture and was involved in one form or another of scripture study for decades. Mom had the market cornered on enthusiasm and always reminded me to, “just do my best because that’s all we can do.” She was a rare individual in todays world in that she always had time to listen. I can’t remember her ever saying she was too busy. Mom was the most outwardly grateful people I know and she treasured everything, even the smallest and seemingly insignificant things. She was the eternal student never ceasing in her love of learning something knew, right up to Dec 2nd when a stroke marked the beginning of the short ending chapter, to a beautiful story of 90 years of life well lived. And in this final chapter her faith never waived. She prayed her way through sleepless nights and handled incredibly hard challenges with grace. I pray that the very best of her will remain in me always.

From her granddaughter Victoria: My Grammy was the epitome of a loving wife and mother. No one was more beautiful, had more faith, or was more kind to all life around her. My favorite memories with her are in her kitchen after school eating grilled cheese and tomato soup. When we spoke to her we knew she was listening. She taught me to help others, to do my best, to be gentle and kind. From the prayers she taught her children, to her prominent cheekbones, her legacy will live through her great grandchildren and beyond.

From her grandson Lee IV: My grandmother was walking Joy and her blood flows through my veins in the form of kindness. I am forever blessed from the light which she is.

We are all so grateful to God for the gift of our Mom/Grammy. We will love her and miss her always.