BARBARA J. STURM

Barbara J. (Tuttle) Sturm, 73, died Monday, July 24, 2000, at Arbor Hospice in Ann Arbor, MI, following a battle with cancer.
Barbara was born June 3, 1927, in Cedar Rapids, the daughter of Royal and Hazel (Gilchrist) Tuttle. She grew up in Norway, IA, where she lived from 1927 through 1944. June 12, 1948, she married Harold E. Sturm in Cedar Rapids. Since 1950, she has been an Ann Arbor, MI, resident.
Barbara Sturm graduated from Norway High School in 1944. She received a B.A. in education from the University of Northern Iowa in 1948 and later completed her M.A. in education at Eastern Michigan University in 1965.
From 1948 to 1950, Mrs. Sturm taught first grade in Waterville; from 1953 to 1958, she was a substitute teacher in the Willow Run, MI, School District. She then worked from 1958 until her retirement in 1988 full-time in the field of special education in the Ann Arbor area, a period of great change in public policy that advanced the status of special education from a second class system into parity with regular education programs.
Mrs. Sturm then accepted the position as Washtenaw County's first teacher of the trainable mentally impaired, in which capacity she served from 1958 to 1975 at Washtenaw County Day Center on Dhu Varren Rd. in Ann Arbor, then later at Sullivan School on Jackson Rd., where she was appointed principal for a term of five years. She helped design and plan the existing High Point School on S. Wagner Rd., the region's first school constructed specifically for the purpose of special education, and served as assistant director there from 1975 to 1988.
Upon her retirement in 1988, Barbara received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Eastern Michigan University.
In retirement, Mrs. Sturm volunteered as bereavement counselor at Arbor Hospice for eight years, ER assistant at University of Michigan Hospital, and was active in several quilting and church groups, as well as the Northeast Seniors "Get It All Together Band," with which she played guitar and bones. Mrs. Sturm was a member of First United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor.
Surviving are one son, Dr. Richard (Marci) Sturm of North Barrington, IL; two granddaughters, Jennifer and Caryn Hart of North Barrington; three sisters, Margaret Dunham of Westboro, MO, Millicent Coleman of Grand Marais, MN, and Miriam Kiliper of Cedar Rapids; several cousins; and close family friends, Donna Fisher and daughters Abby and Georgia and Shirley Chumbley.
Memorial services will be conducted by First United Methodist Church at the Green Wood Church, 1001 Green Rd., Ann Arbor, Saturday, Aug. 12, at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in the Memorial Garden of First United Methodist Church.
In lieu of flowers, tributes may be made to First United Methodist Church or Arbor Hospice. Tributes to First United Methodist Church may be sent to: First United Methodist Church, Barbara Sturm Memorial Fund, 120 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104.