Barbara Syverson

Beloved mother, grandmother, and great grandmother, Barbara Wanner Syverson passed away April 16, 2026.

Barbara was born March 8, 1947 in Gladstone, North Dakota to Jack and Ida (Muth) Wanner. Growing up on the family farm with her sister Evelyn and her brother Edwin, she made many fond memories riding her horse Jesse. Barbara attended a little country school until it closed down, forcing her to attend the much larger Catholic school in Dickinson. She enjoyed life at Trinity High School, spending time with her many cousins and getting into mischief by annoying the nuns.

After high school, Barbara moved to Minneapolis, where she lived with her sister Evelyn and her family, while working at Control Data. It was there that she met her future husband, Alan Syverson. Her co-worker and his cousin, Darlene, took Barbara home with her to Almora, Minnesota. While it was not love at first sight because she thought he was cocky, the two quickly became inseparable. They were talking marriage within two weeks and were married in Dickinson, North Dakota on October 28, 1967. Over the next few years, they were blessed with three children, Tom, David, and Cathy.

Early on in their relationship, Barbara and Alan decided that she would stay home and raise the kids while he worked to support the family. She made sure dinner was on the table and ready “a half hour to forty-five minutes” after Alan came home every night. Even though she was an amazing cook, when asked what was for dinner on any given night, she would always say it was either rattlesnake stew or pickled pigs’ feet. She took care of everything related to the house and kids. She was usually pretty easy going, but the kids knew to watch out when she got mad! Luckily that did not happen too often, as she was known for her sense of humor.

Since Alan worked in the construction industry, the family moved around quite a bit. Over the years, they would live in Pick City, North Dakota; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Davenport, Iowa; Phoenix, Arizona; Plano, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Arlington, Virginia before the kids were grown. After the kids had moved out, Alan’s jobs stayed mainly in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, except for two jobs in Bossier City, Louisiana and in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In each of these new locations, Barbara worked hard to make the house into a home. The family became very close-knit and enjoyed many weekends exploring the areas in their motorhome. When Alan’s sister Pat and her then husband George moved to Texas, the shenanigans began as much time was spent together. Barb and Pat were known to have a lot of fun together, although they blamed their mischief on “pesky armadillos.” Holidays were spent together, sharing an amazing meal with anyone who was also away from family.

As time went on, the kids each were married and expanded the family with children of their own. Barbara was a wonderful grandma, taking time to spend with each grandchild as much as she could. Her grandkids will fondly remember her making home-made play-dough and taking them to the park for picnic lunches – where she would play “alligator” with them. She made them all feel special by making their favorite birthday dinners and inviting them to spend the night- making sure they got a good bedtime snack. As the great-grandchildren came along, Barbara upgraded her name to GiGi, and enjoyed making cookies with them.

Barbara’s faith was very important to her. Growing up, she was baptized, made her first holy communion, was confirmed, and was married at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Dickinson, North Dakota. She raised her kids in the faith and attended Mass regularly. She loved her church home of St. Bartholomew’s in Fort Worth, where she was in Bible study and helped welcome parishioners as an usher until her health began to decline. A staunch republican, Barbara’s TV was usually tuned to FOX News, unless she was watching Dr. Pol or Forensic Files. She and Alan were able to build their dream cabin on Lake Stuart in Minnesota, where they made many memories. As Alan reached retirement, they spent entire summers up north – being joined by kids and grandkids for fun-filled weeks of food, beer, fishing, stories, and card games. She loved the time spent here also with her sisters-in-law (but who she considered to be true sisters) Becky and Pat! It was always her “happy place.”

Barbara is reunited with her beloved husband Alan, her parents, and her sister and brother-in-law Evelyn and Louis Rocheford. She leaves behind her kids Tom and Dawn Syverson, David Syverson, and Cathy Incardona; her grandkids Kristina (and Matt) Ellis, TJ (and Erica) Syverson, Matt Syverson, Viktoriya Syverson, Jacob (and Lauren) Incardona, Catie Incardona, Joseph Incardona, and Dominick Incardona; her great-grandkids Weston and Violet Ellis and Eleanore and Charlotte Syverson; her brother and sister-in-law Edwin and Patricia Wanner; her sister-in-law and brother-in-law Becky and Terry Iverson; her sister-in-law and brother-in-law Patricia and Michael Flanagin; her brother-in-law Floyd Aldrich; her sister-in-law Kate Karger; and a host of nieces and nephews.

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