Barbara Anne Griessen
Barbara Anne Griessen
Feb. 20, 1932 ~ Dec. 3, 2016
“I would like the memory of me to be a happy one. I would like to leave an afterglow of smiles when day is done. I would like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways of happy times and bright sunny days. I would like the tears of those who grieve to dry before a sun of happy memories that I leave behind when day is done.”
Barbara began her life in Catarina, a small south Texas town to which her grandmother moved to pursue life in a new frontier development of mission style architecture and cold artesian wells.
Barbara lived and worked in many places; Catarina, Laredo, Corpus Christi, The Valley, Orange, Delaware, Beaumont, New York City, Houston, Austin, Rockport, Johnson City and finally Marble Falls. With every move her circle of dear and lasting friends grew, and another house was made a home.
Barbara was an exceptional wife, mother, entertainer and an accomplished artist.
Her art work can be found in New York office towers and South Texas ranches and many places in between.
She built a fascinatingly rich life for her family and friends, always bringing them together with wonderful food presented in a warm and impeccably decorated home.
She had an honest direct wit and a sense of humor that entertained as well as managed to keep everyone on their toes.
Barbara was generous and managed to bring beauty to everyone she knew with gifts of linens, pillows, paintings, sculptures, plants, flower arrangements, doll houses, and more.
Every project she built was original, stylish, and destined to become a lasting heirloom.
She was a lover of all animals.
A rescuer of strays, baby birds and the unwanted.
The animals that found their way to Barbara were loved and cared for with the same warmth and intensity that Barbara put into all of her projects.
With Barbara’s passing the world is a little less beautiful, but not to be discouraged -- her memory and her creations live on beautifying our lives.
Barbara is survived by her husband John Giessen III; her brother William Moritz Luft; her Sister Beverly Anne Hulett and her two Sons John Griessen IV and Judy Ronkartz, Steven Griessen and Wendy Griessen and Barbara’s grandchildren Jackson, Megan and Catherine Louise Griessen.
Barbara was proceeded in death by her sister Linda Louise Luft; her brother Jack Luft; her mother Louise Luft and father Moritz D. (MD) Luft.
Contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to an animal shelter in your area.
The family will be memorializing Barbara in a private celebration of her life in her childhood home of Laredo.
