Hazel I. Barton

Hazel Irene Barton died on August 17, 2011, at the age of 85, in the company of her family, near the gardens she'd lovingly tended for the past eleven years at the home she shared with her son-in-law and daughter, Daniel and Constance Hamelberg, Champaign, Illinois. Born Hazel Irene Olson on December 21, 1925, she was the only sister of five brothers: Robert, Donald, Melvin, Russell and Glenn. She met Samuel Harry Barton in 1941 and - after numerous requests - agreed to elope just as Sam was leaving for the South Pacific as a WWII US Navy Mechanics Mate, Third Class. They were married May 25, 1945. They later settled in Oakwood, Illinois and raised four beautiful and doting daughters, known to all as The Barton Sisters. As their daughters married and began to raise their own families, Hazel and Sam remained in Oakwood, running the the food pantry at the Oakwood Christian Church for fifteen years. Hazel participated heavily in the Order of the Eastern Star and, as always, volunteered her time freely to help anyone in need. A woman of great faith, Hazel was equally appreciative of moments big and small. Whether witnessing the graduations and marriages of her grandchildren and the births of her great-grandchildren or basking in simple, every day tasks and small wonders, Hazel lived life to its fullest. When not gardening, Hazel was likely reading about the Royal Family, sewing a set of curtains for a nursery or setting the table for twenty. If ever a person "made the most of it," it was Hazel; and, in turn, those who watched and learned from her. Patient, kind, generous and never prone to preaching, she will be remembered for her wisdom and gift for proverbs: "There's never anything so bad something good doesn't come of it;" "Many hands make light work;" "Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still;" and so many others. Her voice will live on for generations in utterances that begin, "Like Grandma Hazel always said...." Hazel was preceded in death by her husband, whom she now joins, Samuel "Daddy Sam" Barton on February 8, 2000, just shy of their 55th wedding anniversary. She leaves behind her four loving daughters, Constance (Daniel) Hamelberg of Champaign, IL, Christine (Thomas) Holland of Gainesville, Fl, Carol Spark of Champaign, IL, and Catherine (Barry) LeCompte of Barrington Hills, IL, as well as seventeen grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren. A Celebration of Hazel Barton's Life has been scheduled for 3:00pm on Saturday, August 20, 2011 at Sunset's Oakwood Chapel located at 105 East South Main Street in Oakwood, IL, with burial to follow at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4-8pm on Friday, August 19, 2011 at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Hazel's honor to the Eastern Illinois Food Pantry, 2405 North Shore Drive, Urbana, IL 61802. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-5