Lawler, Barbara (nee Pittman)
December 30, 1958 – October 21, 2019
Age 60 of Eagan. On October 21, 2019, Barbara Pittman Lawler passed away at the age of 60, after living with the Scleroderma auto-immune disease for 28 years and battling cancer for the last two years. Barb grew up in LaCrosse, WI, and graduated from Aquinas HS in 1977. She earned her degree from UW-Madison in Dietetics and made lifelong friends as a Kappa Kappa Gamma. After college she worked in the medical nutrition field her entire career. Barb worked full time for Ross Labs for several years and then after starting a family with Chris she worked part time as a dietician helping Alzheimer’s residents at St. Louis Park Plaza nursing home. Barb had a great compassion for the elderly, often stepping outside of her role as dietician to coax residents into cooperating with nurses and aides that were trying to care for them. In 1989 Barb married Chris Lawler from Green Bay, WI, also a graduate from UW-Madison. They lived across the street from each other for 2 years in Madison but never met. After Barb interned in Berkeley, CA and worked in Phoenix, AZ, she moved back to Milwaukee and met Chris at a Green Bay Packers game! They’ve lived the past 28 years in Eagan, MN, and together they raised two sons, Nicholas and Andrew. Barb was always known for her beautiful smile, her compassion for others, and her zest for life. She volunteered at church, at her sons’ schools and their sports leagues, including a 3 year stint as director of the Eagan Lacrosse League. A piano player when she was young, she insisted on having one in her home for her boys to enjoy learning how to play as well.The one song she always played at home at for the residents at the nursing home was Born Free. Sometimes when she would run a dusting cloth over the keys Chris would yell out from elsewhere in the house, “Honey, are you getting rusty at playing Born Free?” She loved to read and quilt, and enjoyed many other hobbies and sports as well, like tennis, skiing, and biking. The Scleroderma made these more difficult over the years, but she loved them just the same. Ten years ago she became passionate about golf, making trips to the library and Chris’ office at home to borrow golf books and DVDs, took lessons and practiced. Sometimes when Chris would come home from traveling for work he’d find her in the family room or backyard swinging a club, and ask him if this grip or swing position looked right. She really wanted to get good enough to be comfortable playing with others. She joined the ladies league at Southview CC, where in her first month there she made a hole in one on the signature hole while playing with her new friends! Even last year after going through 3 months of daily radiation and weekly chemotherapy sessions, she was determined and healthy enough to play golf 4-5 days a week through the rest of the season. Those closest to Barb knew of the challenges she had to deal with every day due to the Scleroderma, and how those were magnified so greatly after stress from the cancer and treatments caused it to flare up so severely. During all of these years, Barb never complained, and she never tried to hold anyone else back just because she couldn’t join in. She was truly an inspiration to all on how to take each day as a gift and make the most of it. Barb was preceded in death by her father Robert Pittman, her father-in-law Patrick Lawler, and several aunts and uncles that have all been waiting to embrace her. Barb is survived by her husband Chris, sons Nick and Andrew, mother Rose Pittman, sister Becky, brothers Tom, Mike (Karla), and Mark (Sheila), and many in-laws, nieces and nephews that will miss her dearly. Visitation will be held at St. John Neumann Church (sjn.org) in Eagan, MN, on November 16 from 9-11am, immediately followed by a mass. The family would like to thank all of the teams at Mayo Clinic and Hospital for their excellent care of Barb through the years. Memorial gifts suggested to the Scleroderma Research Foundation at srfcure.org/donate/, or to the charity of the donor’s choice. Guestbook: startribune.com/…. (Published in the Star Tribune October 27, 2019)