Barbara Ellen (Houle) Toth

Our hearts are broken, Barbara Ellen Toth, 73, of Brainerd, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, September 20, 2021. Funeral Services for Barbara will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 26th, 2021, at Nelson - Doran Funeral Home in NE Brainerd.  Family and friends are invited to gather starting at 1 p.m. to visit and following the service, just as Barbara would, we would like to feed you before you go. So please join us for a meal. 

Her life began at the Cloquet Indian Hospital on August 3, 1948, she was born to Betty (Kegg) and Charles Houle I, and what a remarkable life it was, filled with love, laughter, & adventure. 

In 1969, she met and married Edward Nimeth I, a United States Marine, and in 1971 she joined him. Together they traveled to California, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Virginia. Barbara loved the nomadic life of the Marine Corps and quickly made each place feel like home. Barbara loved the southern states, a few of her favorite places to be where the Blue Ridge Mountains, any beach on the Atlantic Ocean, down the eastern seaboard and up the Gulf of Mexico, the Grand Canyon and up the Pacific Coast Highway, Duluth, and Washington, D.C. when the Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom.

She was a great cook, although she would tell you she wasn’t, her loved ones will miss her coffee cake, homemade fried rice, cinnamon rolls, potato salad, pumpkin pie, oatmeal chocolate cookies, her butterscotch cookies and crispies. She left her mark on every person who was blessed enough to know her because she gave everything of herself in service to others. She could encourage you, enlighten you, and sometimes challenge you. 

Barbara was a force of nature, all 4’9” of her, she will be missed by us her children, Edward Nimeth II (Carly) & Carie Nimeth Mello (Steven), her grandchildren, Everly Nimeth, Savannah Mello, Dylan Mello, Scott Mello, Sean Mello (Savannah), Jacob Nimeth (Julia), Dallas Toth (Michael), her great-grandchildren, Kendall Nickaboine & Corbin Dominguez. Her sisters, Victoria Verkennes (Henry), Mary Sam (Amik). Her sisters-in-law, Barbara Houle (Charles), Laura Shunk (James), Vickey Henagin Houle (Charles), Bettes Watkins (Jim), Jill Frost (Gene), Jean Humphrey (Alfred). Her many nieces & nephews, Christie, Corey & Davey Christiansen (Aylene), Jono Houle (Brooke), Amanda Kubat (Josh, Jaeda), Becky Houle, Crystal Weckert (J), Ben Sam (Candace), Joshua Kalk (Amy), Danielle Houle, Heidi Houle-Crowell (David), Brandon Houle, Nicholas Houle, Nicholas Houle (Valerie), Desiree Verkennes, Kristine Verkennes, Troy Verkennes, Terri Verkennes, Alissa Bouchard (Darren), Ashley Shagunn (Dennis), Mederic Darval, Ella Trude (Josh), Max Frost...Brent Verkennes (Cassandra), Jesse, Jake & Jericho Kretzman & many, many more.

We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable during this sad time. Temperatures will be taken at the door; we ask that you wear your masks & wash/sanitize your hands. We hope you will be able to attend; but we want everyone to be safe so if you have a cough, or you are experiencing any other covid symptoms we ask that you stay home and take good care of yourself as this pandemic has taken enough.

Barbara was preceded in death by her grandmother, Maude Kegg. Her parents, Betty Kegg and Charles Houle I, her siblings, Charles Houle II, James Houle, & Gail Smith.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Barbara Ellen (Houle) Toth, please visit our floral store.