Barbara Schuette passed away in her home on Saturday, November 30, 2024 in Wilsonville, Oregon. She was 89. She was a resident of SpringRidge at Charbonneau. Barb was born on January 11, 1935 in Seattle, Washington, to Russell and Addie Lanning. She grew up an only child in the Leschi Neighborhood above Lake Washington.
She attended Garfield High School and counted the late composer and producer Quincy Jones as a classmate. She graduated in 1952. She worked a year at a Seattle insurance company as a file clerk for one year before enrolling in Seattle University for two years. She later transferred to the University of Washington. She was active in the Girl Scouts and worked summers while in college as a camp counselor where she taught swimming at Puget Sound-area Girl Scout camps, as well as at Spirit Lake at Mt St Helens.
She graduated in 1958 with a bachelor's in science in Home Economics as the first woman to receive a college degree in her family. After meeting Arthur Schuette in 1956 while they both worked at a ski lift in Snoqualmie Pass, Barbara married Art in Seattle in 1958. She gave birth to their son Bill in 1959. She taught home economics in Seattle-area high schools before Art's career transferred them to Vancouver, Washington.
Art's work then transferred the family to Chico, California, Eureka, California, and Frasier, Colorado, where she gave birth to her daughter, Sally, in 1966. In Frasier she taught skiing to children and counted it as a favorite place where she lived. The family next moved to Nashua, New Hampshire, where she gave birth to her youngest son, Jim, in 1969. The family moved to Salsbury, Maryland in in 1970, and three years later moved to Huntington, West Virginia.
In 1973 they moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where they resided for 5 years and Barb took courses in gerontology. In 1979, the family then moved to Sherwood, Oregon where Barb resided for over 20 years. She was active at the Frog Pond UCC Church where she served on the steering committee. She also began substitute teaching for the Sherwood school district.
In 1981, Barb started a new career as a cook at the Wilsonville Senior Center for Loaves and Fishes. She was instrumental in their Meals on Wheels program, which provides nutritious meals for homebound seniors. She subsequently transferred to the Tualatin Senior Center where she served as their cook until retirement in 2000. Art and Barbara then relocated to New Meadows, Idaho. An avid golfer, downhill and cross-country skier, snowshoer, cook, knitter, baker, and quilter, she also taught her grandsons to swim when they spent summers with her and Art in Idaho.
After Art's passing in 2019, Barbara moved to Wilsonville, Oregon. A world traveler, she ventured to China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, South America, and Mexico. Barb is survived by her son Bill and his wife, Cindy; daughter Sally; son Jim and his husband, Naaman; and grandsons Daniel and Jacob. A celebration of life service will be held Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 11 a.m. at Wilsonville Funeral Home Services.
Memorial donations may be made to Clackamas County Meals on Wheels https://www.ccmow.org/ .