Services Saturday
Barbara E. Ward Lampa was born two days after Christmas in Chicago in 1942, the youngest daughter of the late Vernon and the late Leona Ward. She joined her siblings, Ray (Bobbie), the late Patricia (the late Bob), the late Mary Lou (the late Chuck), and Margaret (the late Chuck). Barbara attended St. Mary High School in Chicago’s Austin District and met her future husband, John Lampa. They were married in 1961 for 52 years wonderful years. Barb sadly preceded John in life. Barb and John had two sons, Dan and John (Kim), and three grandchildren, the late Michael (Maggie), Mason, and CeCe. She is also survived by her caregiver and former daughter-in-law, Trish. In 1967 John, Barb, and their two sons moved from Chicago to Franklin Park, where they made life-long friends in the wonder years of the 1960s and early 1970s. Barb volunteered and became the Principal of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine program at St. Gertrude’s in Franklin Park where she was responsible for the education of public-school children in Christianity. In 1975 the family moved to Elmhurst and shortly after, Barbara took a part time job at Pepsi Cola, a few blocks from her home. Barb’s “part time job that went wrong” led to her 25-year career in which she was a customer relations representative. She made many great friends, only drank Pepsi (no Coke!) and always spoke highly and frequently about her work and her Pepsi family. Barb spent some of her vacation supporting her son John by touring with and feeding members of the Colt’s Drum Corps. In retirement, she traveled with her husband John to visit their children and grandchildren, and to visit lighthouses. Barb also donated her time at the Elmhurst Hospital, the Elmhurst Hospital Resale shop, and the Elmhurst Historical Museum. She loved completing puzzles of all kinds, spending time with her children and grandchildren and enjoyed “being a bum” by relaxing on the sofa. To the very end of her blessed life, Barb was gracious, respectful, generous, and genuinely interested in all that tended to her and visited her in her final home at Bridgeway of Bensenville. A Memorial Visitation will be held Saturday, Oct. 23, from 10 a.m. until the Memorial Service at 2 p.m. at Elmhurst Community Funeral Home – The Ahlgrim Chapel, 567 S. Spring Rd., Elmhurst. For information – 630-834-3515 or www.ElmhurstFh.com. Memorial contributions may be made to Elmhurst Children’s Theatre, PO Box 64, Elmhurst, IL 60126 or www.elmhurstchildrenstheatre.com.
