Services for Barb Solien

Barbara Ann (Cantwell) Solien, Gonvick, died Monday, March 28, 2016 under hospice care in Tempe, Arizona.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 9, 2016 at Salem Lutheran Church, Oklee, with Pastor Margaret Jacobus and Lay Minister Dawn Hanson presiding.  The family will greet friends 1 ½ hours prior to the funeral.  A private family interment will take place later at Lund Lutheran Cemetery.

Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park and Funeral Care assisted with arrangements.

Barbara was born May 15, 1940 in Equality Township, Minnesota to Milo and Lily (Christianson) Cantwell.  She grew up and attended in school in Oklee, graduating from Oklee High School in 1958. 

She married Robert Solien on April 2, 1960 at Salem Lutheran Church.  Bob and Barb lived in Minneapolis, Gully, Moorhead, Cokato, and Brooks, MN prior to settling north of Oklee in 1970.  Barbara worked as a bookkeeper for various local businesses including the Oklee Lumber Yard, Farm Credit Services, and Campbell Peterson, before retiring in 1999.  Bob and Barb built their dream home on Pine Lake and spent the next 17 years wintering in Mesa, AZ.

Barbara loved being outside and gardening, especially her flowers.  She was an avid quilter and sewer, creating many beautiful quilts for her children and grandchildren’s graduations.  She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church, Zion WELCA, and a past member of the Hollyhock Homemakers and The Red Hats.  She loved spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchild.

Barbara is survived by her husband of 56 years, Robert, her three children, Jacqueline (Chet) Edinger, Shelly, (Dan) Wittenberg, and Chris (Karen) Solien, her sister, Mary Lou (Steve) Schmidt, sister-in-law, Donna Cantwell, her grandchildren, Megan Fischer, Tanner Grove, Cole Wittenberg, Cameron Wittenberg, Molly (Matt McManus) Grove, Taylor (Blake) Turbak, Connor Wittenberg, Grace Solien, Lily Solien, Henry Solien, her great-grandson, Hudson Wittenberg, and many nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her daughter Janel Marie Solien, her parents, Milo and Lily Cantwell, her brother Duane Cantwell, her sister, Linda Lou Cantwell, her mother and father-in-law, Henry and Mildred Solien, her brother-in-law, Eldon Solien, and her grandson-in-law, DJ Fischer.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The American Lung Association, Gonvick Fire and Rescue, or Lund Lutheran Cemetery in Gully.