Mary Margaret Blackburn's Obituary
Mary Margaret Blackburn, 78 of Tulsa, Oklahoma passed from this life on Monday, January 30, 2023. She was born January 12, 1945 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to her parents, Harold Hibscher and Mary Gertrude Hibscher.
Mary grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she graduated from Dominican High School in 1963. She attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison where she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Mary then became a flight attendant and flew for Delta airlines. In 1967, she married Bud Barnes who was in the Air Force. They moved quite a bit with the air force living in Florida, Germany and eventually ending up in Tulsa to raise their family. Mary poured her heart and soul into being a mom!
After becoming a single mom in 1981, she went back into the work force as a flower store manager in Tulsa and later transitioning into sales for Prudential life insurance where she worked for over 20 years before retiring. In 1995, Mary married Jack Blackburn. Combined they had 6 children and 11 grandchildren.
Mary was a ball of energy and always on the go! Affectionately known as “Grandma Mary”, she always had “smarties” in her purse for her grandchildren along with a big smile and hug. She was a wonderful grandmother and beamed with pride and joy when talking about all her grandkids. Mary had a fantastic group of friends who referred to her as loyal and kind. She and a particular group of ladies nicknamed themselves “the claymates” would travel around to Clay Aiken concerts and were known as his biggest fans. Besides her family, Mary’s favorite things were having lunch and going to the casino with her girlfriends, playing in bridge groups, her Saturday night poker group and cheering for her Green Bay Packers! Mary never met a stranger that she couldn’t shortly turn into a friend and was especially good at using that trait to become the unofficial “Mayor” of her neighborhood pool.
Mary is survived by her four children, Trey Barnes and his wife Cindy of Leawood, Kansas, Tammy Been and her husband Brian of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tim Barnes of Tulsa, Oklahoma and TJ Barnes and wife Whitney of Overland Park, Kansas; five grandsons, Beau Barnes, Blake Barnes, Carson Been, Griffin Been and Remy Barnes; her sister Anne Tomczyk and husband Don, sister Sarah McGowan and husband Hugh, her brother Peter Hibscher; sister in law Becky Barnes, several nieces and nephews, and a host of friends and extended family members. She was preceded in death by her parents, Harold & Mary Hibscher, her husband Jack Blackburn and her brother, Jack Hibscher.
A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, 2023 in the Floral Haven Funeral Home Chapel.
For those that cannot attend the service in person, webcasting is available at the following link:
https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/84396/hash:0A6AFF0B89338F59
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