[Chat] Obituary-"Memorials in her honor can be made to any organization working for the removal of President Bush."

[Crystal]

t r u t h o u t | 08.23

 

http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/082303J.shtml

 

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     Obituary Backs `Removal Of Bush' 
     Woman `Thought He Was A Liar' 
     By Lee Sensenbrenner 
     The Capital Times 

     Thursday 22 August 2003 

     When Sally Baron's family wrote her obituary,
they described a northern Wisconsin woman who raised
six children and took care of her husband after he was
crushed in a mining accident. 

     She had moved to Stoughton seven years ago to be
closer to her children and was 71 when she died Monday
after struggling to recuperate from heart surgery. Her
family had come to the question of what might be a
fitting tribute to her. 

     "My uncle asked if there was a cause," her
youngest son, Pete Baron, said. 

     Almost in unison, what her children decided to
include in the obituary was this: "Memorials in her
honor can be made to any organization working for the
removal of President Bush." 

     "She thought he was a liar," Baron's daughter,
Maureen Bettilyon, said. "I think his personality,
just standing there with that smirk on his face, and
acting like he's this holy Christian, that's what
really got her." 

     Bettilyon, who lives in Stoughton, said her
mother didn't trifle with petty neighborhood squabbles
but was attuned to significant policy-making at all
levels. 

     "She'd always watch CNN, C-SPAN, and you know,
she'd just swear at the TV and say `Oh, Bush, he's
such a whistle ass!' She'd just get so mad," Bettilyon
said. 

     Sally Baron was born in Hurley, Wis., and spent
nearly her entire life in the timber and mining
country of Iron County. She worked as a factory
assembly worker, a waitress, a cook and a dietician,
while her husband, James "Slugger" Baron, worked deep
in the iron mines. 

     Following a promotion, Slugger worked briefly
above ground on mining machinery but in 1969 was
crushed under two tons of equipment. His back and all
his ribs were broken and a leg was snapped at the
shin. 

     "We went to school and they told us our dad was
dead because the accident was so bad," Bettilyon said.


     Sally rushed to the scene and demanded that he be
treated locally by a doctor she believed in rather
than risk transporting him more than 100 miles to
specialists in Duluth. 

     Bettilyon said the decision saved her father's
life and put him in the hands of a "really
old-fashioned kind of common-sense doctor." 

     Slugger convalesced and returned to work in
carpentry, then was elected the mayor of Montreal,
Wis., a post he held for over 20 years, nearly until
his death seven years ago. His accomplishments
included sinking new municipal water wells and
establishing one of the first sewage treatment plants
in the area. 

     Meanwhile, their children grew up. Their oldest
son, Jeff, died as a college student at age 21 of
leukemia. Another son joined the Navy and the rest of
the children graduated from Wisconsin universities. 

     "She was the den mother. She was the 4-H leader.
She is the lady that taught all of us how to swim, how
to play softball, how to camp," said her son, Joe
Baron, who owns a plumbing business in Prairie du Sac.


     "Montreal isn't a big city, but it's not that
small, either. It was about 850 people. And my friends
used to joke that when my mom goes to the front door
-- when I was a kid, this is -- and yells out Jeff,
Jim, Joe!' there was no place in Montreal that she
couldn't be heard. 

     "And it meant one of three things: It was either
time to eat, it was time to do a chore, or it was time
to get in a lineup to find out who did this atrocity
that she perceived. Then the fury of Genghis Khan
would come out." 

     Joe Baron said that the day his mother died he
spent a lot of time waiting in the lobby, and so he
sat and looked at the paper. 

     "I noticed that 776 years earlier to the day,
Genghis Khan died. And we got quite a chuckle out of
that, you know?" he laughed. "Anyhow, yeah, she was a
great lady." 

     "She was real tough, real strong," Bettilyon
said. "They never sued the mining company or anything,
and my parents were so helpful to us. We're people who
waste money, and they never wasted money. They helped
all of us buy houses." 

     The decision to put the line in about Bush came
easily, although after several family members thought
of it, there was some "how can we really say this"
kind of laughter. "It should be impeachment, not
removal," Pete said, laughing. "That can mean a couple
of things." 

     Joe Baron has no question that his mother would
approve. 

     "She just didn't trust that a big corporate guy
was going to be doing what was best for her. She just
really didn't trust him," he said. 

     A memorial service for Sally Baron will be held
at Covenant Lutheran Church in Stoughton at 1 p.m.
Friday. Graveside services in Hurley are scheduled for
Sept. 20. 

© Copyright 2003 by TruthOut.org

 

 

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