Audrey Bahrns Garbe (91) of Effingham

Audrey Bahrns Garbe, 91, of Effingham, IL, passed away on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in Effingham, IL after a short illness following surgery with family by her side.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Effingham with burial following in Arborcrest Memorial Park, Funkhouser. Visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday at Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham.

Memorials may be made to Effingham County Genealogical and Historical Society, P.O. Box 1166, Effingham, Illinois 62401. Online condolences may be shared by clicking here.

Audrey was born on April 25, 1931, in Shumway, IL, the daughter of John R. and Minnie H. (Koester) Gaddis. She married Anson Bahrns on September 25, 1949, and to this union were born 2 children, Steven and Debra. He preceded her in death on January 7, 1992. They were married 42 years. She later married Marvin Garbe on September 7, 1996 and he preceded her in death on July 13, 2006.  

She was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Effingham where she was both confirmed and married, although most of her adult life she was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Wheeler, IL.

Audrey lived her entire life in Effingham County graduating from Effingham High School in 1949. At that time her family lived across from the St. Anthony Hospital and she witnessed the fire there on April 4, 1949. She began immediately to create a scrapbook of the newspaper and magazine accounts of that tragedy which became national news and initiated new laws for hospital safety standards. In 2009, she worked with Eleanor Bounds to turn that scrapbook into a 2-volume account of the fire and its impact on the families and the community. It was published by the Effingham County Genealogical and Historical Society of which she was a member and served for many years engaging in another of her passions which was genealogical research. She spent countless hours helping people from across the country research their ancestry in the county.

In the early 1950’s, there was an outbreak of tuberculosis in the United States that was treated by seclusion of patients to a sanatorium dedicated to their recovery. Audrey contracted the disease only a few months after the birth of Steven, and was sent to a hospital in Decatur, Illinois to recover for 18 months. The experience had a major influence on her life as she not only remembered the difficulties of that time, she found lifelong friends in the companions who shared it with her. They met annually for a day to share their friendship.

When Audrey married Anson, she moved to the farm south of Effingham and helped with all aspects of running a family farm. That experience launched her second career as an Illinois Department of Agriculture Enumerator becoming a supervisor for her district in south central Illinois. Enumerators conduct agricultural surveys of field crops and agricultural livestock for the Dept. of Agriculture’s use in predicting commodity yield expectations. The position was seasonal, but she served in that capacity for nearly 30 years.

Audrey enjoyed knitting and taught classes as a volunteer when she was a member of the Homemaker’s Extension in the 1960’s. She also enjoyed sewing and needlework. As a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church she served as their representative on the Board of the Lutheran Care Home in Altamont for many years volunteering time to their charity campaigns.

After Anson died, she bought a computer and learned to use it for genealogical research. She also started to collect teapots and with new access to eBay, her hobby would grow to hundreds in her collection. She collected what she liked, but also discovered that she could sell off the ones she didn’t and her hobby became a small business of selling collectibles. She became known for her collection and was featured on an episode of WEIU’s Heartland Highways television production in 2014.

In 1996, she married Marvin Garbe of Dieterich and they resided at her family home south of Effingham. She became an avid Cardinals baseball fan and under Marvin’s tutelage she learned the sport. It was an interest they enjoyed together, as well as trips to Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, Idaho, and Oregon. They participated in the church activities at St. Paul’s and the longtime friendships in that congregation.

Audrey was loved by all who knew her and her sparkling personality, whose humor and wit could catch you off guard. Even in her declining years, that personality remained and shined through to the end.

Audrey is survived by son, Steven (Elizabeth) Bahrns of Brunswick, GA; daughter, Debra (Brad) Martin of Forest Grove, OR; grandchildren, Douglas (Jana) Bahrns, David (Renee) Bahrns, Benjamin (Carrie) Martin, Lesley Martin, and Ellie Martin; great-grandchildren, Brett Bahrns and Lilly Bahrns; step-sons, Greg (Patty) Garbe and Gordie Garbe; step-daughters, Marsha (Thomas) White and Cheryl (Bob) Ervin; and many step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Anson and Marvin; granddaughter in infancy, Hayley Martin; brother in infancy, Walter Gaddis; brother, John Gaddis; and sister, Norma Cooper Bracken.