Lois May Barron, 91, Sartell

May 21, 1932 - November 13, 2023

Lois was born May 21, 1932, in Clearwater, MN, to Clarance D. “Hap” and Jesse Mabel (Miller) Stewart. After graduating from Technical High School, St. Cloud, Lois worked briefly at Thoele Dental Lab and then was hired as secretary to the Dean of Men at St. Cloud State University. It was there that she met her future husband John Reid Barron on a blind date arranged by friends; they were married on December 18, 1954, in Clearwater. The couple lived in St. Paul where their four children were born; the family moved to Granite Falls in 1965. Lois worked as a secretary for the Congregational Church and a few years later worked as the attendance clerk and secretary for the athletic director at Granite Falls High School. The family moved to St. Cloud in 1974, and Lois returned to S.C.S.U. to work as a secretary in the English Department, the Public Relations office, and then to the College of Business, where she retired as the Secretary to the Dean in 1995. In retirement, Lois volunteered for several organizations: Meals on Wheels, Central Minnesota Audio Newspapers, and Miller-Carlin Funeral Homes. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church and the St. Cloud Area Fun Singers.

Lois was a compassionate communicator and will be remembered as someone who would always try to be inclusive. She was an avid game player; she loved Scrabble and completing crosswords. Card-playing was a must at all family gatherings. Her favorites included: multi-taire, canasta, 500, and cribbage; she was known to skunk her opponents often. Lois was a closet poet and a traveler, having visited most of the 50 states and visiting Europe twice – once in 1981 with John to visit their first-born grandchild and in 2019 to Ireland with her three daughters. Lois was loved by many friends and her family. Her presence in our lives will be greatly missed but she will live on in our hearts.

Lois is survived by her daughters: Laura (Lynn) Blue, Prior Lake; Linda (Jon) Barron-Alness, Elgin; and Mary (Roys) Barron-Traut, Sartell. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents, her son, Paul Barron, and her siblings: sister Helen Marie Baird and brothers Clarance Stewart Jr. and Raymond Stewart.

Lois’s family wishes to thank the staff and volunteers of Quiet Oaks and Centracare Hospice for their genuine and compassionate care of both Lois and her family during her time there. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the American Cancer Society, First United Methodist Church, Sartell, or a charity of choice.