Mary Ann Barton

Mary was one of six children. She was born on August 16, 1925, to William and Anna (Rinn) Beaumaster on a poor crop farm near Lourdes, Iowa. Challenges faced growing up in poverty taught her resilience and the power to maintain a positive spirit throughout her life.

After finishing high school, Mary held numerous secretarial jobs, affording her the opportunity to live in many thriving cities across the United States. Her employment included performing hospital clerical work in Rochester, MN, sending telegrams for Western Union in Detroit, and processing market orders at the San Francisco Stock Exchange in the 1940s.

Mary met her future husband of 50 years, Emmett Barton, in 1959 at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. On base, she was responsible for distributing weather forecasts via teletype to military aircraft to ensure safe flights throughout Alaska. Mary went with Emmett cross country to Dover, Delaware, where she worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Another military transfer was ordered, so Mary moved with Emmett to Frankfurt, Germany, where she was employed by the U.S. Army Intelligence Service. Although her official job description was purely clerical, Mary spoke with pride of her frequent deployments as a “spook,” where she performed undercover surveillance on suspected Russian enemies due to her ability to blend in anywhere.

Mary and Emmett were married on November 25, 1967, at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Colorado Springs. Her most cherished and final job was as homemaker and mother to her only child, Dr. Melissa A. Barton, who is an emergency physician in Michigan. Mary loved dancing to big band music, thrift store shopping, watching CBS soap operas, and all animals, especially her own. Her motto in life was, “Smile and the whole world smiles with you. Frown and you frown alone.”

Mary was preceded in death by her five siblings: Francis, Thomas, Eileen Margaret May, Margaret Mary Lass, Mary Elizabeth Turner; she was the last remaining survivor of the Beaumaster family farm. Mary is survived by her husband, daughter, nieces, nephews, and her cat, Kiki.

A visitation will be held at Swan-Law Funeral Home on Wednesday, December 27, 2017, between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. with a rosary to follow. A Catholic mass of burial will take place on Thursday, December 28, 2017, 10:00 a.m., at Corpus Christi Catholic Church.

The family is eternally grateful for the compassionate care provided by the staff of the New Dawn Memory Care Center over this past year. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or to an animal shelter of your choice.