Barbara Dewitt

Barbara E. DeWitt
Barbara Elaine DeWitt (Pithan, Melander, Natvig), 91, of Stillwater, MN, high school English and reading teacher, passed away on June 5, 2017 in Stillwater. She is survived by loving sons Craig Forester of Laguna Beach, CA and Todd Melander of Minneapolis. Preceded in death by parents John Irvin DeWitt and Jayne Matilda (McClemans) DeWitt and siblings Hazel Swenning, Bette Jean Ford, Marianna McDonald, Gerald Irvin DeWitt, and John DeWitt, Jr.
Born in Aurora, SD on February 18, 1926, Barbara graduated from Brookings (SD) High School in 1944. She married Norman Natvig in 1947, Philip Melander in 1962, and Virgil Pithan in 1976. She worked as a medical technologist at Brookings Clinic and later at Immanuel Hospital in Mankato, MN before graduating with an English and secondary education degree from Mankato State College in 1967.
Barbara began her teaching career in Mason City, IA in 1967 at age 41. She taught English, poetry, and individualized reading at Mason City High School until 1976, when she moved to Woodbury, MN to teach at Stillwater Area High School. There she taught English and reading until her retirement in 1996. That same year she changed her name back to DeWitt, the family name she loved so much.
Barbara's love of teaching and mentoring frequently doubled her work week; her credo was that every job be done to the best of her ability. Her influence on family, students, and peers was profound, and her joy of life and positivity flowed to everyone who met her. She surrounded herself with loving family and great friends, and she loved to socialize. But Barbara's legacy will be one of kindness and the consistent giving of herself to help make a family member's, a student's, or a friend's life a little better. She is missed dearly by all who knew and loved her.
To honor Barbara a Celebration of Life Memorial will be held at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Woodbury at 1 pm on Saturday, July 22 with a reception to follow at Ray J's, also in Woodbury. Her ashes will be interred in Brookings, SD at a date to be determined.