Sarah Barten

January 10, 1941 - December 7, 2015

Sarah Barten Ankeny Sarah Margarette Meyer Barten passed away on December 7, 2015 peacefully surrounded by her family at the Taylor Hospice House in Des Moines, Iowa due to complications of cancer. She was born January 10, 1941 on a farm in Nishnabotna Township just north of Manilla, Iowa. She was the youngest child of Carl and Edna Meyer. At age two, her family moved to a farm northwest of Vail Iowa where she was raised. Sarah attended Milford Township Country School and then Vail Public School where she graduated in 1959. She attended Northwest Missouri State College where she met her husband, Jerald and earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education. She married Jerald Barten on June 16, 1963, in Presbyterian Church, Vail, Iowa. After marriage, Sarah taught 2 nd grade in Plattsburg and Polk City, Iowa schools until their first child was born. They moved to Ankeny, Iowa in 1975 and became members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.  When her children were young, Sarah taught bible school, led Scout day camps, Girls Scout troops, and was a Cub/Boy Scout Den leader before women were formally allowed. Sarah enjoyed genealogy and traced back 12 different ancestry family lines of her family and her husband's family back to the country abroad. She visited cemeteries, reviewed old newspapers, and interviewed relatives to find missing information. She loved crocheting and knitting and liked to teach others. She made baby blankets, crafts, doilies, and prayer shawls to give to others. She loved country, gospel, and polka music and often went to Branson, Missouri for concerts. She was an avid baker, known to bake 20 dozen cookies at a time for church bake sales and for her family. After Jerald's retirement, she was a daily regular customer for breakfast at the Ankeny Cafe.  Her survivors include her husband Jerald; their four children, Jerry (Lori) Barten, Carla Barten, Chris Barten and JoAnn (Troy) Barten Bigelow; six grandchildren, Joshua Barten and Dylan Smith, Molly and Maggie Barten, and Carl and Leah Bigelow; and one great grandchild, Athena Smith. She is also survived by her dear sister, Jeanette Pohlman, Jolene Meyer wife of her brother Donald Meyer, her nephew James (Faye) Meyer and his children Lindsey Barwald (her children Amy and Ethan) and Nicholas Meyer, Gloria Meyer wife of nephew Larry aka Fritz Meyer and their son Gerritt, her niece Suzanne (Mike) Bunting and their children, Patrick and B.J., her niece Kayti Pohlman and her children Rosmina and Joseph Garcia, her nephew Matthew (Dawn) Pohlman and their children Miranda and Grant, her niece Janiece (Mark) Lewis and their children, Angela and Curtiss (his daughter, Zoey), her nephew Douglas (Carleen) Barten, and her nephew Glen Barten and his children Ronny and Molly (her daughter Hannah). Sarah was preceded in death by her grandparents; parents Carl and Edna Meyer; brothers Donald Meyer and Marcus Meyer; Amy Meyer wife of brother Donald Meyer, her nephew Larry Meyer; and her grandson Joshua Smith. Visitation with family present will be 5pm — 7pm Friday, December 11, 2015 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 517 SW Des Moines Street, Ankeny, IA. Funeral Services will be held 10:00 AM Saturday, December 12, 2015 at Holy Trinty Lutheran Church, Ankeny, Iowa. Burial will be at 2PM at the Manning Cemetery in Manning, Iowa. Memorial Contributions may be made to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church or Taylor House. On-line condolences: DyamondMemorial.com Floral deliveries may be made directly to the church on Friday.