Barbara Ann Ditter, 97, of Crown Point, formerly of Lansing, Illinois, passed away Monday, February 23, 2026, at St. Anthony’s Majestic Care. She was born January 26, 1929, in Hammond, Indiana to William & Elizabeth (North) Carlin and graduated from Bishop Noll High School Class of 1947 then attended St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
On November 20, 1948, at Holy Angels Church in Gary, Indiana she married John L. Ditter who preceded her in death on March 28, 2005. Survivors include their children: JoAnn Fouts, Marilyn (Donald) Olsen, Richard (Beth) Ditter, Brenda (Bryan) Pedigo & William Ditter, grandchildren: Matthew Fouts, Deanna Olsen, Melissa Pirwani, Don Olsen, Leann Ditter, Patrick Murphy, Sharon Ditter, and step-granddaughter, Emily Strait, great-grandchildren: Maverick and Archer Fouts, Anika and Navina Pirwani, Austin and Isaac Olsen, and Francisco Rogan, sisters: Rita Lynch and Lois Martin, and many loving nieces, nephews and friends. Barbara was preceded in death by one son, John C. Ditter in 1994, grandson, Michael Fouts, son-in-law, Edward Fouts, sisters: Margie Hubbell, Bette Pazera, and brothers-in-law: Dwayne Hubbell, Timothy Lynch, Tony Pazera and James Martin.
After Barbara married, she spent most of her life in the Calumet Region where she raised her family. She participated over the years with the Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts when her children were involved. She was always happy to give her time to help in the classrooms while her children were in grade school. Barbara was a devout Catholic throughout her whole life. She loved the Church and seemed happiest when attending Mass with her six children. During the storms of life, she found inner strength through her strong Catholic faith.
Barbara’s passion in life was genealogy. She spent years researching her family’s history and ancestors when there was no technology. She would write to anyone, search documents, read obituaries and visit any library to try to track family members and their history. She had accumulated thousands and thousands of pages of information which she compiled into binders. She loved when she had the chance to visit with her sisters and all of her nieces and nephews from both sides of the family.
A devoted Chicago Cubs fan till the end, Barbara would talk “Cubbie” with anyone! She knew all the players’ names and positions along with their stats. You would always find her watching the Cubs games on television - cheering on “her” team through the entire baseball season.
A visitation will be held Saturday, February 28th from 10 – 11 am at the beautiful chapel within St. Anthony’s nursing home located at 203 W. Franciscan Dr., Crown Point, Indiana with funeral mass beginning at 11:00 am, Father Don Lewendowski officiating. Cremation will follow the service at Angelcrest Crematory, Valparaiso. Committal of her urn will take place at Danville National Cemetery, Danville, Illinois where she will rest beside her husband. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to St. Jude’s Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee. www.stjude.org Go to Memorial Gift page.
