Barb Hell

BARBARA "BARB" HELL Barbara "Barb" Hell (73) of Littlefork, Minnesota, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on February 26, 2024, at Essentia Health in Duluth, MN. Barb is survived by her devoted husband of 51 years, Robert "Bob" Hell, best friend and daughter Heidi Ireland (Tom) of Warren, OR, loving son Robert (Patrice) of Duluth, MN, grandchildren Connor and Annika Hell, and older sister Brigitte Jordan, of Weilmünster, Germany. Preceded in death by her parents, Willi and Liesel Michel. Barb was born to Willi and Liesel (Müller) Michel on December 13, 1950, in Löhnberg, Germany. She and Brigitte enjoyed a happy childhood growing up in a small home in Weilberg, Germany. She attended Jakob-Mankel Schule as a child, followed by nursing school nearby at the University of Giessen. As a young child, they enjoyed sightseeing and traveling around Germany, Sunday walks in the woods, gardening, singing together as a family, and spending holidays with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. In 1971, while attending nursing school and working as a nursing assistant, Barb met an American soldier named Bob Hell while boarding a train in Geissen. While he was serving in the U.S. Army and stationed in Geissen, they married and welcomed their first baby, Heidi, in 1972. They raised Heidi together in Germany for three years before moving to Minnesota for a short while, before eventually settling in Aloha, Oregon. In 1979, Barb and Bob welcomed a son, Robert Victor. While raising their two children, they visited their German family every year or two. In the meantime, Barb truly enjoyed her time as a doting mother and the "mom taxi", bringing Heidi to softball games and the mall with friends, and Bob to baseball games and fishing holes. Barb also enjoyed her work caring for, serving, and healing others, as a Registered Nurse at St. Vincent's Hospital in Portland, OR from 1978-1995. When Barb was not working or raising her kids, she was also an avid league bowler, reader of Stephen King novels, and knitter. In 1995, they moved to Littlefork, MN, to be near Bob's extended family. Soon after, Barb continued her career as a registered nurse, and later a nursing supervisor, at Rainy Lake Medical Center in International Falls, MN, until her retirement in early 2016. Following her retirement from nursing, Barb enjoyed visiting and playing with her two grandchildren, Connor and Annika. She also loved working in her large garden and flower beds, taking long 4-wheeler rides with friends and family, assembling puzzles, and taking in as much sunshine as possible. Barb will be remembered by countless loved ones as a kind-hearted, humorous, supportive, woman, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. A public memorial gathering for Barb will be held March 23rd from 11- 3pm at The Junction Bar and Grill in International Falls, MN. Online condolences to www.mlakerfuneralhome.com