Barbara E. (O'Hara) Vanderkelen Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Barbara (O’Hara) Vanderkelen, 93, passed away peacefully on June 16, 2021, surrounded by her family. She was born on June 14, 1928, to Florence and John O’Hara. Barbara was born at home and was proud to say she was born in the shadow of the U of M stadium. She attended Mercy College in Adrian, Michigan, and graduated as an RN. Her claim to fame was that she and another nurse drove across the country and ended up in Colorado working at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in the TB unit. She drove across the country four other times. Her work history includes Mercywood Psychiatric Hospital near Ann Arbor (most likely helpful in dealing with five children in six years). While working at Mercywood, Barbara met and married Robert Vanderkelen in 1955. When her youngest was nine, she returned to work as an industrial nurse in Toledo at Allied Chemical and then General Mills. She was the quintessential room mom, girl scout and cub scout leader. Barbara enjoyed playing golf, bridge and traveling. She was proud of the fact that she was involved in the Harvard nurse’s study which tracked health trends over the decades. Barbara volunteered at Christ the King, and Mercy St. Anne Hospital at the front desk. She enjoyed the family cottage at Big Star Lake in Baldwin, Michigan and family reunions. Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, Robert in 2002; her parents; brothers and sister and infant son, Bruce. She is survived by sons, Brian (Debbie) Vanderkelen and Barry (Jennifer) VanderKelen; daughters, Anne (Kevin) Kwiatkowski and Joan (Bruce) Bruggemann; grandchildren, Megan (Charles) Rittenhouse, Kelly Kwiatkowski, Erin and Amy Bruggemann, Reilly Van Aller, and Matthew VanderKelen; and great-grandchildren, Annabelle, Peter, and Celeste Rittenhouse. Family and friends are invited to gather on Monday, June 21, 2021, at 11 a.m, at Christ the King Catholic Church, 4100 Harvest Lane, until the memorial mass at 12 noon. Interment will be private. Contributions in memory of Barbara may be made to Christ the King Catholic Church, Building Fund or Hospice of Northwest Ohio. Ansberg-West Funeral Home, (419) 472-7633.

Barbara E. (O'Hara) Vanderkelen

June 14, 1928 - June 16, 2021