A memorial service for Barbara Varner will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Bonnerup Funeral Service in Albert Lea. The Rev. John Holt will officiate. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at Bonnerup Funeral Home, and again one hour prior to the service. A private family interment will happen at a later date.

Barbara passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea. She was 86.

Barbara J. (Kron) Varner was born on March 27, 1931, to Benjamin and Henrietta (Ofstaas) Kron in Albert Lea. She would grow up in Albert Lea and graduated from Albert Lea High School. On Jan. 20, 1951, she was united in marriage to Cecil “Bud” Varner. The couple were blessed with three children.

Barbara would work as a telephone operator at Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. When she wasn’t working, she loved to volunteer her time. She was a leader in Girl Scouts, helped with ARC Freeborn County, Hollandale Parent Teacher Association, was a member of the Sons of Norway. She especially loved to volunteer at the Good Samaritan Society. She was honored at the state level for her volunteer work there. She was a member at the Congregational Church of Hollandale, where she was an officer at church and on the ladies aide committee. Barb was known for her excellent cooking and baking. She was a very kind and compassionate mother, granny and great-granny. Family was always most important to her, and she cherished every moment spent with them.

Barbara is preceded in death by both parents; her husband, Bud Varner; daughter, Nancy Varner; son, Dan Varner; grandson, Jacob Varner; and siblings, Helen Trim, Krist Anderson and Mary Kron.

She is survived by her son, Chuck Varner, of Hollandale; granddaughters Chrissy and her husband, “Bucky,” of Blooming Prairie and Laura Varner of Albert Lea; three great- grandchildren, Zachary, Wyatt and Odin; sister, Lorraine Kuntz of Helena, Montana; nieces and nephews Gail Kuntz, Steven Trim, Mike Wilson and Jim Wilson; along with many extended relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memoriare preferred to Hollandale Cemetery or Hollandale Fire Department and first responders.