Rose Marie (Dieter) Barry, of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, passed away peacefully on May 17, 2025, at her daughter Darla’s home in Seattle, Washington. Her two daughters, Darcy Renee and Darla Rae, were at her side as Darla’s husband, Robb Benson, beautifully sang “Amazing Grace”.
Rose was the oldest of ten children born to Rubert Roscoe and Lucreda Grace (Propp) Dieter. She graduated from Richland Center High School in 1955. She received a scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin – Platteville and graduated with a B.S. in Education in 1959. She taught fourth grade for 40 years, with the majority of time at Grewenow Elementary in the Kenosha Unified School District. She received the Teacher of the Year Award in 1989 and a Master of Education degree in 1992. She was a beloved teacher and mentor, known for her dedication, kindness, creativity, enthusiasm, and eager adoption of technology. She retired in 2000.
On August 13, 1960, Rose married the boy next door, Ted Nohl Barry. Their marriage of 63 years embodied devotion, collaboration, joy, and loving support. They started their family in Kenosha, WI, with the birth of Darcy in 1968 and Darla in 1971. Rose and Ted’s daughters moved to Seattle, WA, in 1997. In 2006, Rose and Ted helped Darla and Robb purchase a home in Seattle next to Darcy’s house. Seattle became their second home for two months out of the year. Rose was well-known and loved by her daughters’ friends and neighbors. Rose would attend parties and game nights, live music events where Robb was performing, and craft clubs organized by Darla. Neighbors regularly saw Rose gardening, checking out books from the neighborhood’s Lending Library, and “always smiling”.
Rose was a lifelong learner, intellectually curious, and ever in awe of things, especially nature. She was an avid book reader since early childhood. She learned many musical instruments, including alto saxophone, piano, recorder, dulcimer, and ukulele. She was a passionate gardener, enjoying both ornamental gardens with flowers and productive gardens with fruit and vegetables. She was dedicated to cooking, canning, and baking the fruits and vegetables she grew; rhubarb was a favorite. She was a highly skilled artist, enjoying many mediums, including sketching, paper crafts, paper quilling, origami, painting porcelain dolls, making Christmas ornaments, building miniature dollhouses and electric train models, sewing clothes, and embroidery; the list goes on and on. She became a master quilter after her retirement from teaching. She won numerous quilting awards, with the last one, “That Cat,” being awarded First Place for the category of small quilts with long arm quilting at the Southport Quilters Guild annual show in 2024.
In addition to all of her accomplishments, Rose was an incredibly kind, compassionate, and accepting person. She loved conversation; she was a great listener and talker. She enjoyed sending cards and letters to friends and family, baking desserts to share at gatherings, serving her church and community through volunteer work, teaching Sunday school, providing church website support, photographing church events, and participating in church music and worship. Many have said, “Rose exemplified Christ.”
She is one of the best humans we’ve ever known. We are deeply grateful she was our mother, grandmother, mentor, and friend. We know she is always at our side. “A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again” (Maya Angelou).
Survivors include daughters Darcy Renee and Darla Rae Barry; son-in-law Robert Benson; grandchildren Elias William Carr, George Bennett Carr, Kieran Theodore Carr, and Daily Inipi Nakai (Benson) Bontrager; siblings Dennis Delos Dieter, Gary Allen Dieter, Robert Lyle Dieter, Alvin Lewis Dieter, Diana Lynn (Dieter) Kepler, David Fred Dieter, Lynda Kay (Dieter) Smith, and Darrell Wayne Dieter. Rose was preceded in death by her husband, Ted Nohl Barry; her parents, Rubert and Lucreda; and her brother Eugene James Dieter.
A Celebration of Life will be held on October 12, 2025, in Kenosha, WI, at the Stella Ballroom, 5706 8th Ave. Visitation 1 pm. Service 1:45pm with a reception to follow at 3pm.
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to the Shalom Center, where Rose regularly volunteered in the soup kitchen. The Shalom Center was founded as “The Interfaith Human Concerns Network” in 1982 and provides shelter and food programs for people in the Kenosha community: https://www.shalomcenter.org/donate/
