Barbara Jean Groeltz Kinneer of Fort Collins, Colo., was born Feb. 16, 1945, in Burlington, Iowa, to William Henry and Eleanor Emma Fahlgren Groeltz. She married Robert Gordon “Rob” Kinneer Oct. 28, 1967. She died Sept. 24, 2023, of cancer.
Barb graduated from Burlington High School, Western Illinois University, and the University of Iowa. She taught in the Burlington Community School District for nearly forty years where she helped develop outdoor classrooms.
She was involved in the BHS Ecology Club, Starr’s Cave Nature Center Board, Aspen Grove Cemetery Board, Three Rivers Environmental Council, The Rocky Mountain chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation, and Strong Women—Strong Bones. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and First United Methodist Church. She retired to Fort Collins where she became a Master Naturalist and 10-year volunteer.
Preceded in death by her parents and sister, Carolyn Groeltz Dalton, she is survived by her husband, Rob; children Kara (Eric Straumanis) and Christopher (Briana Sprecher); grandchildren, August and Iyla Straumanis, and Alister and Margaret (Maggie) Kinneer, all residing in Colorado; and a brother, William Groeltz.
Barb’s body was donated to Tomorrow Link for research followed by cremation. No services are planned. Memorials may be given to The National Scleroderma Foundation at Scleroderma.org and the National Resources Defence Council at https://www.nrdc.org/