Barbara Virginia Glennon Blacksher Schweiger, 93, long-time matriarch of the James Hope Glennon family, died Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at her home in Lillian.
She was born Dec. 21, 1916 in Mobile and attended the Convent of Mercy and graduated from Murphy High School in 1934. She attended her last high school class reunion in May this year.
She raised her children and had many friends in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and Paducah, Ky. After the death of her first husband in 1960 and youngest son in 1961, she moved to Brewton, where she worked for Hines Realty and became co-owner of the Carriage House Gift Shop.
In the early 70s, she and her second husband built “The Fahm” on Perdido Bay, where they lived the rest of their lives. In Lillian, she continued working as a real estate agent, first with Harris Realty and finally for Century 21 until her 92nd year. She believed she was the first woman to obtain a real estate broker’s license in Baldwin County.
She was an ardent bridge player and a faithful member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, where she attended mass daily almost to the end. She was a much beloved inspiration to the matriarchate and to her community.
She was preceded in death by her parents, James H. and Rella Wilds Glennon; her first husband and father of her children, E.M. “Man” Blacksher Jr.; son, Manny Blacksher; and her second husband, John L. Schweiger; and siblings, “Buck” Glennon, Zip Hietter and Rella Leighton.
Survivors include two sons, James U. (Mary Lucia Carter) Blacksher and William G. Blacksher (Linda Winter-Blacksher); grandchildren, Manford, Juliet, and Lucia Blacksher, Ashley (Rob) Craig, Allison (Troy) Youdarian, Amanda (Brian) Zaumeyer; step-children, Suazanne Bremser, Maria Schweiger and John Schweiger; great-grandchildren, Bobby, Billy, and Katie Craig, Glennon, Sloan, and Tommy Carevic, Colby and Linley Youdarian, Charlotte and Matthew Zaumeyer; former daughter-in-law and grandmother of her great-grandchildren, Katherine Taylor Smith; nine nephews and nieces, Jimmy Glennon, Judy Henry, and Jane Feagin; Val and Jimmy Hietter, and Zippy Doll; Phil and Glen Leighton and Lee Duffill; and niece, Mary Jo Field.
The family wishes to extend its deepest gratitude to the care-givers and hospice nurses for their skilled and loving attention during her journey to life’s end.
Visitation begins at 9 a.m. with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 1 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lillian. Interment will follow at 2 p.m. at Union Cemetery in Brewton.
The family requests memorial donations be made to Community Hospice of Baldwin County, 2770 S. McKenzie St., Foley, AL 36535.
Arrangements are by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc., Elberta.
