Barbara Spriestersbach

Barbara Reis Spriestersbach, 82, died peacefully on February 20, 2009 at The Village at Brookwood in Burlington, North Carolina, surrounded by loving family members. She is now with the love of her life, her husband David, with whom she enjoyed 61 years of marriage before his death in 2008. Mrs. Spriestersbach was the daughter of Clement and Barbara Reis of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. After attending the University of Minnesota, she married David and with him raised a family of five children. She lived in Waynesboro, Va., and then Wilmington, Delaware before moving to Burlington, NC in 2006. She was an active member of the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington, Delaware. She had a variety of special interests, including classical music, art, literature, and cooking. She and David enjoyed travel to Europe for music and art programs. She was especially proud of the 20 years she spent as a Senior Docent at the Delaware Art Museum, where she developed expertise in pre Raphaelite art. All who knew Barbara realized that she had a gift for keeping lifelong friends and making new friends wherever she went. She was the heart of her family. Everyone knew what was happening with everyone else by talking to Mom. She is survived by one son, Alan Spriestersbach and wife Kathy, of Windsor, Conn.; four daughters, Susan Lapidus of Conifer, Colo.; Sara Haigh and husband John of Elon, N.C.; Lisa Harris and husband Tom of Stoneville, NC.; and Martha Kuon and husband James of Capon Bridge, W.Va. Also surviving are her brother Peter Reis and sister Phyllis Storberg, both of White Bear Lake, Minn. She treasured her large family, including five grandsons, Peter Lapidus, Nicholas Kuon, Michael and Richard Haigh, and Daniel Harris; four granddaughters, Sarah Ellsworth, Emily Vincent, Kirsten Londono, and Erin Reid-Eriksen, and six great-grandchildren, Caileigh Ellsworth, Lily and Annie Vincent, Benjamin and Daniel Londono, and Elizabeth Reid-Ericksen. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hospice and Palliative Care of Alamance-Caswell, 914 Chapel Hill Road, Burlington, NC 27215. A memorial service will be held at The Village at Brookwood on Friday, 13, 2009 at 2:00 pm at the Gathering Place.. You may sign the online register book at www.lowefuneralhome.com