Obituary of Barbara Jean Stuwe

Barbara Jean Stuwe passed peacefully to eternal life with family at her side on Thursday, March 23, 2023 @11:37am in Hugo CO. Barbara was born in Bangor Maine on January 4, 1938 and soon adopted by Floyd and Vernice Elliott who raised her as their own daughter for their remaining lives. Barbara attended Hugo Public schools from 2nd grade until graduating in 1956. On July 28, 1956 Barbara was united in marriage to Donald Eugene Stuwe at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Hugo CO. The couple were blessed with two sons during their union, David Donald, born November 12, 1957 in Colby KS & Michael Gene, born July 23, 1959 in Hugo CO. Barbara & Don spent the next 18 years working & raising 2 boys and helping get them to and from little league baseball games, basketball camps, golf tournaments, junior Olympics, sporting events & whatever else we could find to do. Mom made the best Kool Aid in the neighborhood & on any given summer day kids playing basketball at our house were gulping down orange orange, raspberry red, goofy grape & horse face strawberry Kool Aid by the gallons between games. Barbara (Mom) was our biggest fan, supporter & especially consoler when we would not do or perform as well as we would of thought or hoped for no matter the event or competition. The marriage ended by 1980 & eventually Barbara moved to Denver and worked for Doubletree hotel gift shop & Loehmanns retail store for approximately 20 years and then retired in Limon CO. The biggest thrill of Barbara’s life was yet to come, on November 29, 2019, the day after Thanksgiving, when her sons moved her into her new home on fifth street in Hugo Co. Barbara was now home in Hugo again, right next door to the house we all grew up in as a family in the 1960’s & 70’s on fifth street. Barbara became a real homebody after being diagnosed with and treated for macular degeneration after the move to Hugo, driving less and less, & enjoying her new home every possible moment that she could. Barbara lived for the holidays, Christmas & Easter especially, but all Christian holidays and traditions were observed in our household. Our belief in Jesus, attendance at Mass, serving as altar boys, going to catechism and being good Christians were also held in high regard by both parents. My brother and I took a lifetime to learn some of these lessons, guess that’s why they are called life lessons & some we are still learning today. The wisdom we failed to understand back then, rings through ever so much clearer today. Barbara loved Hugo, the Broncos, anything ‘Elvis’, her cat Kacy, (an awesome rescue story all in itself,) her close knit family, quiet evenings reflecting, visiting on the phone or visiting in person, staying up late, sleeping in, going out to eat on Sunday’s, her Christian radio programs, remembering & talking about past memories and vacations, her last earthly home, & talking about Jesus. Some of her last words spoken were that ‘God is coming soon!’ & that ‘I only want to be at home in heaven with Jesus.’ My last words to her were ‘ I love you mom.’ I also told her one of my last visits to the ER that so many people were concerned about her and praying for her, her reply was ‘thank them all for me’. Special thanks to the first responders in handling an extremely difficult situation right from the start. Thank you also to the ambulance crews that transported mom, to UC Health/Highlands Ranch for the hip surgery, to Aviva @Fitzsimmons post surgery recovery & rehab facility, & Lincoln Healthcare’s nursing home and ER staff at Hugo nursing home & hospital for their compassionate care for my mom for her last week of life while there. For all of your prayers, thoughts, cards, texts, visits, calls & concern for Barbara since her bad fall & broken hip on February 3, 2023, her passing on March 23, 2023 & at any other times in her awesome life of 85 years- “THANK YOU” from my ‘mom’ -Barbara Jean Stuwe. **** Predeceasing Barbara were her adoptive parents Floyd & Vernice Elliott from Hugo CO, Aunts Kathryn Shorey, Velma & (Ralph) Brown, half- brothers Richard Scott & Neil Shorey, 2 uncles Lloyd & Floyd Nealley, all from Maine. Barbara is survived by her sons David & Michael both of Hugo CO, David’s son Derek & his children Raven & Silas from Filer ID. Half -sisters Carol & (John) Dean, Orlando FL, Nancy & (Dale) Richardson of Hamden ME Half- brother Bill & (Jean) Shorey of Searsport ME Aunts June Wentworth, Belfast ME, Shirley & (Bob) Kenney of Searsport ME and other nieces and nephews.