Barbara L. "Morris" Dahl

Barbara Louise (Morris) Dahl, 85, of Bunceton, Missouri, formerly of Ingleside, Illinois, passed away peacefully at home with family present on September 10, 2025.

Born January 13, 1940, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Barbara was the eldest of three daughters of Vernon Morris and Margaret (Crabtree) Morris. She is survived by her husband, Robert (Bob) Dahl; daughter Krista (Mike Atkins) Jeppsen, son Karl; sisters Kathryn Stonecipher and Lynne Keasling. Barbara met the love of her life, Robert (Bob) Dahl, at a church camping trip in 1962. They were married on August 7, 1964, in Wauwatosa, WI, and shared more than 60 years together.

Barbara loved God, her family and friends, her cats and dogs, and the joy of teaching both children and adults. After graduating from Wauwatosa High School in 1958, she initially planned to become a veterinarian but changed course after her first anatomy lab and earned a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin with a double major in education and clothing and textiles and a minor in music.

Although she loved to sew, Barbara never taught clothing and textiles. She spent five years teaching foods and nutrition at high schools in Kenosha and Rockford, Illinois, before joining the Cooperative Extension Service in Grayslake, Illinois, in 1966. She served as a 4-H advisor before the birth of her children, Krista Louise in 1971 and Karl Curtis in 1972. Returning to the Extension Service in 1976, she became a foods and nutrition educator with the University of Illinois. In 1982 she earned a master's degree in Consumer Education with a minor in Food Science, and in 1987 became a Consumer Economics Specialist serving the five collar counties and Cook County. During a six-month sabbatical in 1992 she earned her Accredited Financial Counselor certification and later authored a ten-workbook series, A Working Woman's Guide to Financial Success, published by the University of Illinois Press. An avid recycler, she also developed the "Master Recyclers" training program, patterned after the Master Gardener program.

Barbara was active in numerous Lake County, Illinois, organizations. She was elected four times to six-year terms on the Fox Lake Library Board, was a founding member of the Lake County Home Economics Association, participated in the Lake County Women's Coalition, and founded the Lake County Food Resource Council to coordinate food distribution for the county's hungry.

When the University closed several smaller extension offices in 1997, Barbara became a financial counselor at the Clara Abbott Foundation in Waukegan, Illinois. She also taught the "Personal Financial Management" program at the Great Lakes Navy Base three days a week until two weeks before she and Bob moved to Bunceton in 2006.

Music was a lifelong passion. Barbara began piano lessons at age six and started a 69-year career as a church organist at age twelve. She played bassoon in the Wauwatosa High School concert band, alto saxophone in the marching band, and sang in the Madrigal Singers, Modern Music Makers, and A Capella choir. She treasured six semesters of private organ lessons on one of the magnificent organs at the University of Wisconsin.

A dedicated gardener, Barbara became a Master Gardener in Illinois in 1974 and later repeated the training in Missouri. She developed 16 gardens on the family's 11-acre farm, with favorite rose and herb gardens, and was an early advocate of straw bale gardening. Barbara and Bob were enthusiastic beekeepers for over 30 years, at one time maintaining 45 hives.

Barbara loved history and was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and Daughters of American Colonists. She served on the board of the Cooper County Historical Society and as its president from 2018 to 2022, leading the development of a comprehensive county history website for Missouri's bicentennial.

A lifelong learner, Barbara loved to cook, bake, and entertain. She rarely sat still except at her computer and was always thinking, doing, moving, and helping, yet seldom tooted her own horn.

A Celebration of Life Memorial Service and Luncheon will be held Friday, September 19, 2025, at 12:00 p.m. at the Mercantile Event Center, 505 Main Street, Boonville, Missouri. Funeral services are under the care of Howard-Millard Funeral Home. Friends and family are invited to attend. For additional details, please contact daughter Krista at krista.dahl@yahoo.com.

Donations may be made in Barbara's name to cedarscamps.org.