Barbara Jean Overton

Barbara Jean Overton, 76, of Thomson, Illinois died May 17, 2016 peacefully in her home with her husband Gayle and daughters at her side. Cremation Rites will be accorded. A celebration of her life will be held from 4:00-6:00 p.m., on Sunday, May 22, 2016 at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Savanna. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Mercy Hospice in Barbara’s memory.
Barbara was born January 14, 1940 in Pittsburgh, PA, the daughter of William John and Kathryn Louise (Hunger) Miller. Due to her Father’s transferring with his company, Barbara attended six different schools in her grade school years. Barbara graduated from the high school at Galesburg, IL and then attended the University of Illinois in 1960 and graduated with a degree in Psychology.
Barbara married Alan Arthur Swanson and from the marriage two daughters were born, Amy Kay in 1965 and Laura Beth in 1968. She later married William J. Overton and then Gayle T. Zajicek. Both Alan Swanson and William Overton preceded her in death. After a few years teaching at the grade school level, she went to work with the US Government in the Rockford, IL area and then transferred to the US Army Defense Ammunition Center and School (USADACS) at the Savanna Army Depot to become a Quality Assurance Specialist Ammunition Surveillance (QASAS). She worked as an ammunition inspector working at several instillations in the US, Germany and South Korea retiring in 1992. Barbara was a member of the DAR, VFW Ladies Auxiliary, past Secretary and President of the IL Federation of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE).
Barbara will be dearly missed by her husband, Gayle T Zajicek of Thomson, IL; two daughters, Amy (Walter) Kreiling of Durham, NC, and Laura (Craig) Little of Colmar, PA; four grandchildren, Nikolaus and Joseph Kreiling and Madeline and Kathryn Little.
She was preceded in death by her father William in 1985 and her mother Kathryn in 1972.