Lavent, Barbara Cordelle Clark – 1943-2017

BOLDING, CLARK, HARTER, KAISAND, LAVENT, LEEDOM, MCNEAL, WAGENKNECHT

Posted By: Diana Wagner
Date: 6/13/2021 at 16:08:43

Barbara Lavent, 74, of Grinnell, Tuesday evening, July 25, 2017, at Grinnell Regional Medical Center.
Visitation will be held from 3 until 8 p.m. on Friday evening in the Friendship Center of the Grinnell United Methodist Church. Her family will greet friends from 5 until 8 p.m. A prayer service will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday evening in the Friendship Center of the Grinnell United Methodist Church. Burial will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Jackson Township Cemetery in Montezuma.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be designated to the Barbara Lavent Memorial Fund and mailed in care of the Smith Funeral Home, PO Box 368, Grinnell, Iowa 50112. Condolences may be shared with her family online at www.smithfh.com.
Barbara Cordelle Clark was born the daughter of Thomas Sheldon Clark and Marian Jeanette McNeal Clark on April 2, 1943, in Monmouth, Illinois. She was raised in Grinnell and graduated from Grinnell High School with the class of 1961. She then attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
Barbara worked at Matthews Drug and was a secretary at the Department of Human Services in Grinnell. She then began her longtime career of over 40 years as a childcare provider and foster mother. Her enjoyments included camping, crocheting, and attending her grandchildren’s activities.
Barbara is survived by her two sons, Joseph "Scott" (Tammi) Wagenknecht of Grinnell and Michael (Arleen) Wagenknecht of Colo; a daughter, Nancy (Stockton) Harter of Brooklyn; 14 grandchildren; three great grandchildren; a sister, Nancy Kaisand of Greenville, SC;
She was preceded in death by her parents, infant sister, Beverly Jolene Clark, and foster son, Tom Leedom.
Source: Grinnell Herald Register; July 27, 2017

Additional information from Smith Funeral Home website:
Barbara will long be remembered for being ornery, having a witty sense of humor, and for being a second mom to many. She devoted her life to bettering the lives of others, especially the children she cared for. Her family was her rock and she cherished every moment the family spent together. She loved watching her grandchildren's activities and traveling to go visit her sister, Nancy in South Carolina. When her schedule was free, she loved to go camping at Rock Creek and Lake Pla-Mor. Her other enjoyments included planting flowers, maintaining her flower garden, and crocheting. She had many nicknames, "Second Mom" from all the extended kids who loved her like their own, "Sister Ugly" she shared with her sister, Nancy, and was called "Grandma Barbie" by her grandchildren. She would always ask her family to say the phrase, "Pray for me" before they left from visiting her so she would not worry so much when they traveling back and forth to visit her. She was still asking her family to say "Pray for me" before leaving her for the evening even when she was so sick. That was her way, still worrying and taking care of everyone else even when she was not well enough to take care of herself.
Survivors also include a niece, Darsi (Kevin) Bolding of Greenville, SC.