Obituary: Barbara Stem

Barbara Lynn Bauman Stem passed away May 9, 2023. Born August 21, 1954 to Edwin

Everett and Marjorie Hazel Brown Bauman in Hackensack, NJ, she was raised in Bogota,

NJ and Mahwah, NJ.

Barb graduated from Englewood Hospital School of Nursing with a diploma in nursing (RN)

and later received her BSN from Montana State University, in Bozeman, MT. She worked at

Debora Heart & Lung Center in NJ before moving to Missoula where she worked at

Community Medical Center and St. Patrick's Hospital. The focus of her nursing career was

Adult ICU, Physical Rehabilitation, Neonatal ICU and Tele-health nursing. She also worked

at the Critical Access Hospital in Philipsburg, MT when she was living in Drummond, MT.

In 1979 Barb moved to Missoula, MT from New Jersey. She met Robert Wayne Stem who

lived in Deer Lodge, MT and they married May 19,1993. After living in Deer Lodge for

several years Barb and Robert built their dream house on 595 acres in Drummond, MT.

They raised cattle and poultry, and enjoyed having horses, mules, and llamas. Though they

were divorced on Dec. 9, 2004 Barb remained on the ranch in Drummond for another 12

years. She moved to Helena in 2017.

Genealogy was a passion for Barb for most of her retired life. She enjoyed riding horses,

crafts, and crocheting. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution,

The Women Descendants of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co, The Associated

Daughters of Early American Witches, and The Colonial Dames of the 17th Century,

Barb contracted breast cancer when she was 38 years old. She had a regional recurrence

11 years later and then suffered bone metastasis in 2017 despite appropriate treatment of

all cancer episodes.

Barb is survived by brothers Bruce (Beth McClain) Bauman of Morris Plains, NJ, Barry

Bauman of Alexandria, VA and Brad Bauman of Charlotte, VT. She is also survived by six

nephews, three nieces, and two grandnieces.

No funeral services are planned. The remains are to be cremated and placed for interment

at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Helena, MT.