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Oct. 9, 1943-June 7, 2023

 

Barbara Joan (Banner) Scalise, 79, of Cassopolis, died peacefully Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in the comfort of her family’s presence.
Her life began Oct. 9, 1943 in Chicago, Illinois the daughter of Dr. Lawrence and Catharine Banner. In her early years at Gull Lake, Michigan, Barbara developed her deep love of fishing, sailing and all things water. There she met and married her husband, David Joseph Scalise June 14, 1962.
David and Barbara spent the early years of their marriage living in the Detroit area where they started their family and built lifelong friendships with families from the Aquinas High School community. David’s banking career brought them back to Gull Lake in the early 1980s where Barbara was an active member in St. Ann Catholic Church, Gull Lake, where they developed enduring friendships. Barbara also launched a successful career in residential real estate. Career opportunities for David in California brought a new set of adventures as they embraced the ocean, wineries, and all that their new West Coast communities had to offer.
Early retirement allowed more opportunities for gardening, travel, and exploration, and eventually led to summertime living at Diamond Lake, Michigan in close-proximity to her daughters and their husbands and all seven grandchildren. Their home quickly became a place where Barbara watched grandchildren grow up together while swimming, skiing, and sharing her love for the water and family. Perhaps Barbara’s greatest happiness and pride resided in her grandchildren and the time she was able to spend at birthday parties, family celebrations, school events, graduations, and on the bleachers watching them flourish and grow, while forever leaving an imprint on their lives.
Barbara will be greatly missed by family and friends. She is survived by her husband of sixty-one years, David Scalise; three daughters and sons-in-law, Terri (Rich) Field, Gina (Don) Bazany, Angie (Sean) Kearns; seven grandchildren, Amanda (Caleb) Acosta, Kaylee (Brett) Vander Baan, J.D. (Allie) Field, Garrett (fiance’ Kaleigh Knutson) Bazany, Emma Kearns, Elizabeth “Libby” Kearns, Mary Margaret “Maggie” Kearns; four great grandchildren Eliana Acosta, Blair Vander Baan, Noa Grace Vander Baan, Brady Field; and her sister-in-law, Cindi (Dennis) Lofstedt.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Catharine Banner; step-brother, Lawrence Banner; uncle Harvey Bodmer; aunt Mert Bodmer; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Joseph and Mary Ann Scalise.
Family and friends will gather Monday, June 12, 2023, from 4:30 p.m. until 8 p.m., in Wagner Family Funerals Connelly Chapel, 202 North Broadway Street, Cassopolis, Michigan. A Rosary will be prayed at 7:30 p.m. Mass will be celebrated Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. in St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 421 North Broadway Street, Cassopolis, Michigan with additional calling beginning one hour prior at 10:30 a.m.
Mrs. Scalise will be laid to rest in a private family ceremony in Cedar Grove Cemetery on the grounds of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Barbara enjoyed creating weekly floral arrangements for her church. The family prefers contributions in memory of Barbara be made to St. Ann Parish Community flower fund, Post Office Box 247, Cassopolis, Michigan 49031.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Wagner Family Funerals Connelly Chapel, Cassopolis. Please share a memory or a message online: wagnercares.com