By Lee Sensenbrenner August 21, 2003
When Sally Baron's family wrote her obituary, they described a northern Wisconsin woman who raised six children and took care of her husband after he was crushed in a mining accident.
She had moved to Stoughton seven years ago to be closer to her children and was 71 when she died Monday after struggling to recuperate from heart surgery. Her family had come to the question of what might be a fitting tribute to her.
"My uncle asked if there was a cause," her youngest son, Pete Baron, said.
Almost in unison, what her children decided to include in the obituary was this: "Memorials in her honor can be made to any organization working for the removal of President Bush."
"She thought he was a liar," Baron's daughter, Maureen Bettilyon, said. "I think his personality, just standing there with that smirk on his face, and acting like he's this holy Christian, that's what really got her."
Bettilyon, who lives in Stoughton, said her mother didn't trifle with petty neighborhood squabbles but was attuned to significant policy-making at all levels.
"She'd always watch CNN, C-SPAN, and you know, she'd just swear at the TV and say 'Oh, Bush, he's such a whistle ass!' She'd just get so mad," Bettilyon said.
Sally Baron was born in Hurley, Wis., and spent nearly her entire life in the timber and mining country of Iron County. She worked as a factory assembly worker, a waitress, a cook and a dietician, while her husband, James "Slugger" Baron, worked deep in the iron mines.
Following a promotion, Slugger worked briefly above ground on mining machinery but in 1969 was crushed under two tons of equipment. His back and all his ribs were broken and a leg was snapped at the shin.
"We went to school and they told us our dad was dead because the accident was so bad," Bettilyon said.
Sally rushed to the scene and demanded that he be treated locally by a doctor she believed in rather than risk transporting him more than 100 miles to specialists in Duluth.
Bettilyon said the decision saved her father's life and put him in the hands of a "really old-fashioned kind of common-sense doctor."
Slugger convalesced and returned to work in carpentry, then was elected the mayor of Montreal, Wis., a post he held for over 20 years, nearly until his death seven years ago. His accomplishments included sinking new municipal water wells and establishing one of the first sewage treatment plants in the area.
Meanwhile, their children grew up. Their oldest son, Jeff, died as a college student at age 21 of leukemia. Another son joined the Navy and the rest of the children graduated from Wisconsin universities.
"She was the den mother. She was the 4-H leader. She is the lady that taught all of us how to swim, how to play softball, how to camp," said her son, Joe Baron, who owns a plumbing business in Prairie du Sac.
"Montreal isn't a big city, but it's not that small, either. It was about 850 people. And my friends used to joke that when my mom goes to the front door - when I was a kid, this is - and yells out 'Jeff, Jim, Joe!' there was no place in Montreal that she couldn't be heard.
"And it meant one of three things: It was either time to eat, it was time to do a chore, or it was time to get in a lineup to find out who did this atrocity that she perceived. Then the fury of Genghis Khan would come out."
Joe Baron said that the day his mother died he spent a lot of time waiting in the lobby, and so he sat and looked at the paper.
"I noticed that 776 years earlier to the day, Genghis Khan died. And we got quite a chuckle out of that, you know?" he laughed. "Anyhow, yeah, she was a great lady."
"She was real tough, real strong," Bettilyon said. "They never sued the mining company or anything, and my parents were so helpful to us. We're people who waste money, and they never wasted money. They helped all of us buy houses."
The decision to put the line in about Bush came easily, although after several family members thought of it, there was some "how can we really say this" kind of laughter. "It should be impeachment, not removal," Pete said, laughing. "That can mean a couple of things."
Joe Baron has no question that his mother would approve.
"She just didn't trust that a big corporate guy was going to be doing what was best for her. She just really didn't trust him," he said.
A memorial service for Sally Baron will be held at Covenant Lutheran Church in Stoughton at 1 p.m. Friday. Graveside services in Hurley are scheduled for Sept. 20. lsensenbrenner at madison.com
Published: 9:57 AM 8/21/03