Barbara J. Hacker

Barbara J. Hacker, of Manhattan, Kansas, passed away peacefully on October 25, 2016, after a recurrent struggle with breast cancer. There weren’t many other battles she lost. Barbara was born on October 21, 1931, in Jacksonville, Illinois, to Paul and Ruth Davidsmeyer. She graduated from Valparaiso University in 1954, and lived for more than 20 years in the Washington, D.C. area, where she met and married David Hacker. Barbara and David lived in Manhattan through most of the 1980s, when David was editor of the Manhattan Mercury. They then spent a decade in northern Michigan, returning to Manhattan in the late 1990s after a few too many cold winters. Barbara was exceedingly active in the community, quietly volunteering countless hours over the years in various community service organizations and her beloved Unitarian Fellowship. She was an avid tennis player in earlier years, and right up to her final weeks she was actively engaged in multiple book clubs, bridge games, and coffee groups. Her bright spirit shines on in her many close friends in Manhattan and elsewhere, and in her brother Bill Davidsmeyer (and his wife Correne); in her daughters Dr. Sandy Johnson (and her husband Willie) and Sarah Hacker; and in her son Jonathan Hacker (and his wife Kristen Donoghue). Barbara is also survived by her grandchildren Caleb, Zachary, Evan, Chelsea, David, Maggie, and Ellie, and great-grandson Taylor. She was preceded in death by her husband David in 1999 and stepdaughter Holly Hacker in 2016. Please join us in celebrating Barbara’s life on November 11, 2016, at 3 pm, at the First Congregational Church, 700 Poyntz Avenue, with reception to follow at the Wareham Opera House, 410 Poyntz Avenue. Memorial contributions may be made in Barbara’s name to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Manhattan (uufm.net) or the Manhattan Emergency Shelter (mesikansas.org).