Barbara Kostial

Barb Kostial passed away peacefully on July 27, 2025 at her home in Longville, MN with her two sons by her side.

Barbara Ann Kostial was born in Shenandoah, PA on January 12, 1945, to Robert D. and Anne M. Bohn. Her father was fighting with the USMC on the Japanese front when she was born, and in the years following Barb continued to live the military life, living in Carlsbad, CA, Guam, Quantico, VA and then graduated high school from Marymount International School in Kingston, London. Barb attended the American University of Paris for two years before moving back to the US to work in the travel industry including customer service work with Pan American Airlines. She was concurrently studying at Macalester College when she met her future husband, Ken. They married in Arlington, VA on April 29, 1967 and received a plethora of Barbie and Ken dolls which in retrospect they wished they had kept as they soon became vintage.

Barb worked as a stay-at-home mom for over a decade in the Minneapolis area while simultaneously picking up various crafts such as crocheting, cross-stitch, wheat art, stenciling, and sewing some pretty amazing Halloween costumes for her two boys. Once Barb learned and mastered one thing, she quickly moved on to the next, eventually settling on the art of computers and sharing her expertise and knowledge with others as a paraprofessional educator at Groveland Elementary School in Minnetonka, MN. Not many children can say they learned about electronics, computers, and website design from one of their parents, but Barb was one of those mothers who would pass on a recipe she loved along with tips on HTML coding. In 2000, Barb and Ken retired to the home they purchased in 1973 on Inguadona Lake before settling into a house on Woman Lake in 2002. During retirement, Barb continued to utilize her design skills through part-time website design along with volunteering to update the RAGOM (Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota) website until she suffered a severe stroke in June 2013 which took away her ability to talk or use a computer. She was able to move back to her Woman Lake home in April 2014 due to the efforts of her loving husband Ken and a team of caregivers. Despite her disability, Barb continued to indulge in her love for red wine, watching cooking competition shows, and looking at family photos from the past and present.

Barb was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Ken. She is survived by sons Brad and David (Jen), grandchildren Nathan, Ellie, and Megan, her sister Nancy, and nieces Elizabeth, Julianne, and Anna.

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to all of the caregivers who cared for Barb over the years since her stroke, with special recognition to Amy Remer who worked with Barb and the family for 10 years. A celebration of life will be held on September 6th from 1-3pm at the Kline-Brenny funeral chapel in Pine River. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are appreciated to a charity of your choice.