She is survived by her son Daniel (Janelle) Appleton, daughter Tracy (Len) Forside, her sister Cindy (Jeff) Houle, grandchildren Nick Forside, Jack (Jennifer) Forside, Tara (Troy) Anderson, Laura (Timothy) Johnstad, Dan B. Appleton, Maddie (Aidan) Bazala, great-grandchildren Elliott, Olivia and Theadora Johnstad and Ty Anderson, nieces Beth (Mike) Hoppe, Ann Vaughn and Nancy (Terry) Tuccitto, and nephews David Houle Robert N (Jennifer) Appleton, Steve Houle, wife Emily Coffey, James Appleton, Scott (Denise) Appleton, great niece and nephew Brooke and Sam Hoppe, cousins Neil Paulson and Mollie Paulson.
Preceded in death by parents John Robert and Margaret Fors, infant son and twin brother of Daniel, Don T. Appleton Jr., and father of her children Don T. Appleton.
Barb worked for many years as a legal secretary at 3M and Brigg’s and Morgan but lived her passions in her retirement years travelling the world and watercolor painting. She was an avid bridge player, Minnesota Twins and Viking’s fan who found companionship in always having one or two cats and in the many books that adorned her shelves. She loved story telling through building her family tree and watching British movies and television. She was a devoted matriarch of her family whose presence will be deeply missed by those who knew her.
A visitation for Barbara will be held Monday, May 20, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Wulff Funeral Home, 1485 White Bear Ave N, St. Paul, Minnesota 55106. A celebration of life will occur Monday, May 20, 2024 at 11:00 AM, 1485 White Bear Ave N, St. Paul, Minnesota 55106. A burial will occur Monday, May 20, 2024 at 1:00 PM at Scandinavian Cemetery, Forest Lake, MN.
Grandma
If we looked at grandma’s life like a watercolor painting I believe it would be a dynamic work of art. One worth staring at, worth pondering and one that would have a positive impact on those whose gaze it captured.
This piece of work would reflect moments of brightness expressed in vibrant colors, time spent growing up with friends and family in bright yellow, days and weeks spent traversing the globe in vivid greens; reminiscent of the European cities and hills she explored. Hectic days spent chasing the children that she loved dearly or bringing a totally genuine and completely ugly pair of pants as a present for Christmas - those moments would be captured in bold reds and oranges.
The complexity of the days spent ill, or sad, in mourning or in anger about relationships that just didn’t work out the way she originally envisioned them to would be embodied in streaks of blues and purples.
Unlike other works of art with clear and focused imagery the portrait entitled Barbara Nancy Appleton holds a softer theme. Though grandma wouldn’t hesitate to tell you her unfiltered opinion - leave politics out of it if you expected a poised and tactful conversation partner - grandma always found that leaving a space for questions, for doubts and for uncertainties was best. The lighter browns and the shades of grays that bleed away from the defined primary hues, house these mulled thoughts on the canvas.
Not everything in her life existed in the undefined though; the love she felt for her family, for her parents, her sister, her cousins, her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were never left to question. Instead they are the areas of the painting - the ones that take up the most space - in gentle and warm pastels. Also existing here would be days turned to evenings reading books that took her back in time and across fantastical worlds, Sundays spent watching the Vikings win- or mostly almost win- followed by movies laden with romantic British accents, with a cat either perched by a window close by or purring on her lap.
Taking a step back and assessing this painted picture from a bird’s eye perspective is something we only get to do once the artist has set down the brush. With no more spaces to be filled in, a truly complete work of art. Though we as the viewer may wish the colors kept going and that the edges of the easel were ever expanding, we can rest assured there will always be something here for us to come back and admire. Something funny, something sad, something sweet or salty. My grandma, Barbara Appleton left us a unique and beautiful masterpiece to remember her by one that can be viewed differently by everyone who knew her- for me it can be found in the memories she inhabits -in the unmistakable Minnesotan accent she proclaimed “oh my goodness” in, in my inherited love of cats and painful love of Minnesota sports teams, the scent of well worn books and homemade goulash and of course….in the colors of paint on canvas.
I love you Grandma
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