The family of Margaret Barnes Eckhoff, 92, announces her passing, and invites all who knew her to remember her here.
What remains is memory — and the gratitude of those she loved.
Born in 1925, Margaret began a life that would touch many along the way.
Margaret spent her working life as ['accountant and was an active member of the United Methodist Church'] and held deeply to the Methodist faith — and was, by all accounts, loved by those who knew her best.
Faith gave Margaret a place to stand, and a place to return to.
Margaret Barnes Eckhoff passed away on Dec 2, 2017 at the age of 92. She was born on July 16, 1925 in Pine City, Minnesota to Julius and Anna DeVriend. Along with her 2 sisters and 3 brothers she grew up near Ward, South Dakota. After moving to Pipestone, she met and married Lester Barnes . They lived there until 1960 when they moved to Johnsonville Store, near Brookings, SD. In 1968, the family moved to Canton where she lived until Lester passed away in 1969. Margaret moved to Sioux Falls and while living there she met Roy Eckhoff. They married and moved to Hurley, SD, where she lived until moving to Sunnycrest Retirement Village in 2008. She spent her final year of life at StoneyBrook Assisted Living Facility. During her life, Margaret worked as an accountant and was an active member of the United Methodist Church. She will be remembered for her willingness to volunteer her time and talent for many organizations and as a loving presence to her family and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, and her two husbands. She is survived by her two sisters, Dorothy DeZeeuw (Edgerton, MN) and Evenlyn Lang (Spooner, WI) and one brother, Julius DeVriend (Tampa, FL), her two sons, Duane Barnes and wife Sharon (Salem, OR) Gary Barnes and wife Jeanne (Gulf Breeze, FL) daughter, Karen Petros and husband James (Charleston, SC), and step-son, Jeff Eckhoff and wife Gea (Sioux Falls, SD). She will be deeply missed by all of them and her ten grandchildren, Leslie Barnes and husband, David Leonard (Houston, TX), Betsy Barnes and husband Patrick Wright (Long Island, NY), Kelly Barnes and husband Casey Dinges (Fairfax, VA), Stephanie Barnes and husband Alejandro Gonzalez Roman (Arlington, VA), Joy Barnes and husband Roger Thomas (Belle Chasse, LA), Tim Petros and wife Jessica (Rockville, MD), Kim Nassif and husband Peter, (York Town Heights, NY), Molly Barnes (Salem, OR), Lynea Eckhoff (St. Peter, MN) and Logan Eckhoff (Minneapolis, MN) and 12 great-grandchildren. A funeral service will be held on Friday, Dec 8 at 10:00 AM at Heritage Funeral Home, 4800 S. Minnesota Ave, Sioux Falls. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 5-7 on Thursday, Dec 7. Burial will be at Pipestone, MN cemetery. The family would like to thank the staff at StoneyBrook for their kind and loving help and support. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the South Dakota Association of the Blind.
