Barbara B. Given

She is survived by her five children, Tom (Jeff Wright) of San Francisco; Liz (Wayne Katz) of San Diego; Rick (Bev Given) of El Paso; Andy (Yoko Given) of Los Angeles; and Barney of Los Angeles. She is also survived by her nine grandchildren, Josh Katz, Amy Given Kelley, Leah Given Singleton, Laura Katz Celano, Bess Given Grant, Kelly Given, Annie Given, Sofia Given, and Eli Given, and by four great-grandchildren Bella Singleton, Kelsey Singleton, Ben Grant, and Theo Celano. Her husband Ken Given predeceased her in 2010.

She was born in Detroit in 1927 to Ben and Bess Berkman. She attended public schools in Detroit and the University of Michigan before dropping out of college to marry Ken Given in 1948. They settled in Chicago, where Tom was born. In 1950 they moved to Detroit, where Liz and Rick were born.

In 1957 they moved to El Paso to open Given Paint Company, which manufactured paint and distributed wallpaper until it was sold to the Kelly-Moore Company in 1993. Andy and Barney were born in El Paso; all five children attended local primary schools and Coronado High School.

Barbara and Ken were full-fledged business partners for most of their lives, except for a stretch in the 1980's when she went back to college at UTEP to complete her education with a degree in accounting. She was a smart, hard-working woman who loved the business of business. In addition to being a wife of 62 years, the mother of 5 children and an active partner in the family business, Barbara was a renowned baker. She entertained with dessert parties and her cookies, cakes, and pies were in demand at all social functions.

Burial services will be held at the Temple Mt. Sinai cemetery at 10 am Monday morning, August 24. The family will receive friends and guests at her home at 762 Via Verde after the burial. For further information contact the Martin Funeral home

The family requests that donations be made to Hospice El Paso.