Jackie Barrett passed away on Monday, September 11, 2017 at home on the family farm near Avoca. Jackie and her husband Ray were longtime farmers in the Slayton and Avoca area. Born Jacqueline Lorraine Lunstra on July 26, 1929 in Hull, Iowa to Dewey Lunstra and Jennie (Star) Lunstra, Jackie grew up near Hudson, South Dakota and Luverne, Minnesota. She was the eldest of a large family of thirteen children.

Jackie attended Beaver Creek High School in Beaver Creek, Minnesota, where she met Raymond Elwood Barrett. They were married December 17, 1948 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and began farming, eventually acquiring a farm in Lime Lake Township in Murray County, Minnesota.

Jackie was the State President of the GFWC (General Federation of Women’s Clubs) 1996-1998, and served as an officer of the Murray County Home Council. Often described as a “force of nature” she was a strong, steady and resourceful woman, who was an avid fisherman and gardener, and loved adventurous travel to places like Alaska and the Northwest Territories of Canada. She was also an incredible cook, and volunteered at her church.

She and Ray were the parents of five children: Dianne (Joe) Judd of Minneapolis, MN; Randy (Dawn) Barrett, of Avoca, MN; Cindy (Jerry) Petricca, of Miltona, MN; Kathy (Jeff) Huston, of Medina, MN; and Kris (Doug) Sill of Eden Prairie, MN; as well as 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Ray, sisters Karen Kathleen Lunstra, Shirley Jean Osborne and Deloris Mae Miller; and brother Martin Russell Lunstra. She is survived by all her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and her remaining Lunstra siblings.

A Visitation will be held on Sunday, September 24, 2017 from 4 to 6 PM at Totzke Funeral Home in Slayton. A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, September 25, 2017 at Slayton United Methodist Church at 10:30 AM with visitation beginning at 9:30 AM.