Barbara Mae Douglass

April 13, 1956 - August 26, 2018

Barbara Douglass, age 62, of Lakeside, Iowa died on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at Fonda Specialty Care in Fonda, Iowa. A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Friday, August 31, 2018 at 1:30 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The family requests that memorials be directed to Fonda Specialty Care, 607 Queen St. Fonda, Iowa 50540 or to the family of Barbara Douglass. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. Barbara Mae Douglass, the daughter of Gilbert and Pauline (Mudge) Douglass, was born on April 13, 1956 in Storm Lake, Iowa. In her youth, Barbara attended grade school in Storm Lake. In 1974, Barbara graduated from Fenster Boarding School in Tucson, Arizona. In her earlier years, Barbara worked in her family’s business, Douglass Clothiers and ran The Branch, a store that the family added to their existing space. She loved the life of retailing on Lake Avenue and only left that when she became disabled by multiple sclerosis. She made a new life at her Lakeside home, where at various times she could be spotted on her jet-ski or feeding the ducks and geese, that liked her little cove on the lake, and tending lots of potted flowers that she kept on her deck. Sometimes she could be found tooling around on her mobility scooter visiting Storm Lake’s outlet dam, keeping that under some pretty consistent supervision. She loved her dogs, Mokie, Fifi, and Gucci, the latter two of which were standard poodles who were her constant companions as her life began to be centered more on being in her house. She valiantly battled MS throughout the rest of her years, typically saying “it’s only MS” and many of her mourners will be able to say she never wavered from that. When it became necessary for her to be moved to the nursing facility, she accepted that and become one of their favorite residents. She was comfortable and content in her final moments and her devotional book was by her side. She was not alone. Her passing is a victory for her. She was a founding member on the board for Patients Out of Time, a non-profit advocacy group for medical cannabis for eighteen years. Those left to cherish her memory include her significant other, Steve Ross of Lakeside, Iowa; daughter, Michelle (Mike) Scionti of New York, New York; Half-brother, Ron (Jeri) Dreyer of Denison, Iowa; half-sister, Janet (Ken) Johnson of Kanab, Utah; and grandchildren, Leo and Olivia.