Mother of Kane County State's Attorney dies on Thanksgiving

There was nothing more important to Betty Marie Barsanti than the warmth of a close-knit family. Perhaps that's why, despite being ill for several weeks, she found the strength to make it to one last Thanksgiving, a day when she knew the family she cherished would all be gathered together.

Barsanti, 83, died Thursday at home in Geneva. She is survived by her husband, Alfonso, and three children, including Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti.

"The overriding pleasure of my mother was family," John Barsanti said. "We've all stayed in the area, and we've all been getting together for every holiday with my parents. With her not here, that's going to be a big change for us."

Family outings were always a mainstay of the Barsanti family. The family owned a houseboat they would take out on the Mississippi River along with up to 25 other boats from a local boat club.

"We would all travel out there in summers," Barsanti recalled. "We'd just take the boat up and down the river, and there would be little sandbars where they'd stay for a week and camp out and cook out on the beach."

Sometimes on those trips, or at other family gatherings, Betty Barsanti would share stories of her days serving in what was eventually known as the Women in the Air Force Program in the latter days of World War II. She was so enthusiastic about serving her country she provided a bogus birth date to the military to get into the program. Her actual birth date left her just a few months short of eligibility.

"She never went overseas or anything like that, but she had lots of stories about her years of service," Barsanti said.

Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Malone Funeral Hone in Geneva. Funeral services will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the funeral home. A funeral mass will follow at 10:30 a.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in St. Charles. Internment will be private.

The Barsanti family asks that memorials be sent to the Salvation Army in St. Charles, in recognition of the helping hands they provided in Betty Barsanti's final days.