Mrs. Barbara B. Vincenz

Brigitte Barbara Rotraut Koch (Barbara Vincenz) was born on June 12, 1930 in Magdeburg, Germany. Visitation will be Friday, September 02, 2016 from 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. and on Saturday, September 03, 2016, from 9:00 A.M. to time of funeral service 10:30 A.M. at Morizzo Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 2550 West Hassell Road, (Northeast corner of Barrington Road), Hoffman Estates, IL. 60169. Interment Evergreen Cemetery, Barrington, Illinois. She grew up in a nice home with her parents Rudolf and Rotraut, big brother Peter and little sister Christel. She had a wonderful childhood but life changed as WWII hit. Her dad and 16 year old brother went to fight for their country. So she was left with her mom and baby sister. Barbara was only 13 years old when they had to escape to West Germany together. She lost her Father during the war and her mom was paralyzed in an accident shortly afterwards. Eventually she followed her brother Peter Koch to America. She became a nanny for award winning actress Beatrice Straight in NY and later went on to study Interior Design in San Francisco. This is where she joined the Unification Church as the 10th member in America. Barbara then became a missionary in Europe- the first member they witnessed to was a young German man Reiner Vincenz, who would later become her husband. In 1969, Rev. Moon blessed Reiner and Barbara together in holy marriage. Barbara was a devoted wife. Reiner and Barbara Vincenz accomplished a lot together traveling all over the world in America, Europe and Asia teaching God’s Words, leading teams and planting churches. She was also able to apply her Interior Design talents in many projects. Reiner and Barbara always lead together- Reiner representing Heaven with the next big mission and Barbara representing Earth saying “Reiner, but we have to do the laundry first!” Reiner and Barbara are always remembered as a Pioneer Couple “Marching On!” They devoted their life and love to God and others. In 1987, at the age of 57 Barbara finally became a Mother to their adopted and only daughter Leena. Barbara devoted the next years to staying home with and raising Leena while Reiner continued mission work. After a lot of travelling, they lived in Germany from 1989-1995 and then came to Illinois in 1995 where they have lived since. Barbara was a wonderful mom. She had a loving motherly heart to all who met her. She was always full of joy, appreciation and generosity. Barbara always thought of everyone else before herself. She paid attention to the small things and kept a beautiful, organized home. She always made everyone feel welcome and loved. She was very happy to finally receive a son when Leena married Jario Gavin in 2007 and to become “Oma” a grandma in 2011 when her grandaughter was born and in 2015 when her grandson was born! In her later years, Barbara devoted herself to taking care of her husband Reiner who suffered with Parkinson’s disease while she also began to have Parkinson ’s disease and Alzheimer’s herself. Barbara lived with her children first and then moved into a nursing home after her husband passed in 2015. Their children Jario and Leena devoted themselves to taking care of Reiner and Barbara for the past 5 years and were proud to be a part of this 3 generation family. Barbara passed peacefully in the beautiful hospice facility JourneyCare in Barrington, IL on Sunday morning August, 28 around 5:45 A.M. after having been in the hospice without fluids for 17 days- what a strong woman! Family and friends were able to share many beautiful moments together with her showering her with love and memories during the last couple weeks of her life. Thank you sincerely for all for your love and prayers during this special time. Barbara is now free in Heaven reunited with her husband Reiner and many others. Let us celebrate her victorious life this coming Saturday and pray for her smooth transition in to her eternal home, dwelling in God’s love. Thank you for sharing your memories and wishes with us here on this website; and thank you to Morizzo Funeral Home. The family has created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories, photos and videos. For further information please contact the Morizzo Funeral Directors at 847.752.6444. Arrangements entrusted to Morizzo Funeral Home and Cremation Services, at 2550 West Hassell Road, (Northeast corner at Barrington Road), Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60169.

Mrs. Barbara B. Vincenz

June 12, 1930 - August 28, 2016