Barbara Jean Young

Barbara Jean Young, 90, of Geneseo, passed away on Monday, November 16, 2020, at Heartland Health Care – Moline, IL.  A private funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, November 23, 2020, at Vandemore Funeral Homes & Crematory – Geneseo Chapel.  Reverend Mark Graham will officiate.  Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery and will be open to the public should you wish to join the family at the gravesite.  Visitation will be held from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, November 22, 2020, at the funeral home.  Due to COVID restrictions, only ten people may be in the funeral home at one time.  Masks must be worn at all times, and social distancing maintained.  The funeral service will be live-streamed at https://www.vandemorefuneralhome.com/live-stream on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Barbara was born January 20, 1930, in Curlew, IA, the daughter of James and Celia (Boyd) Thompson.  She graduated from Annawan High School, class of 1948.  On July 16, 1950, she married Bob Young at United Methodist Church, Annawan, IL.  The two raised their three children in Munson Township and eventually divorced after 27 years of marriage.  She assisted on the family farm with field operations, dairy cow operations, beef cattle, hogs, and continued her mother-in-law’s egg business.  She was employed in a PMA office in Kewanee, the Henry County Farm Bureau and 29 years at General Electric. She was a member of Rural Youth, Munson Center Club, Grace Church, Eastern Star, Senior Center and many Country Western Singer fan clubs.  She played basketball for the Annawan Girls Athletic Association. She and her father were avid Yankee baseball fans.  Barb was known as being a kind, caring, dedicated and courteous worker, whatever the challenge.  She enjoyed bowling, vegetable and flower gardening with her grandson Jake, horses, playing the accordion, making candles and crafts, playing bridge and her favorite - country western music and dancing. She would often sing /hum a song while tapping her toes or put a little dance step in her stride. She always had the record player on when cooking and cleaning.

Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Dean Young, Cambridge, IL, Patricia Young, Cambridge, IL, and Janice Young, Prophetstown, IL; grandson, Jake Young, Norfolk, VA; and sister, Judy Hanson, Geneseo, IL; sister-in-law, Odetta (Calvin) Thompson, Annawan, IL; and brother-in-law, Neil (Betty) Johnson, Galva, IL.

She was preceded in death by her parents, James and Celia; her siblings, Dorothy Koss, Mary Guthrie-Whisker, Orin Thompson, Harold Thompson, Calvin Thompson, Lucille McCune, Betty Johnson and Jim Thompson.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Barbara Young Memorial Fund.