Barbara Pronk
Barbara Pronk, age 85, of Marshall, Minn., passed away surrounded by her loving family on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, at her home. Funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Porter, Minn. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12 at the Houseman Funeral Home-Birk Chapel in Canby, Minn. with a prayer service at 7 p.m. Visitation will resume one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be at the Bethel Lutheran Cemetery, rural Porter. Houseman Funeral Home-Birk Chapel in Canby has been entrusted with the arrangements.
Barbara Jane (Helleksen) Pronk was born August 22, 1940, in rural Butternut Valley Township, Minn. She was baptized and confirmed at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Butternut, Minn. She was raised in rural Lake Crystal on the generational family farm as the second of five children to Harland and Lydia Helleksen. Barb attended country school located at the end of their long driveway for her first few years. She graduated from Lake Crystal High School in 1958. Barb went on to the Mankato Beauty School where she earned her beautician’s license. She cut and fixed hair mostly in her home; she opened her own beauty shop in Clarkfield in the 1970s.
On Nov. 14, 1959, Barb was united in marriage to Thornton Pronk at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Butternut. They were blessed with four children in under five years. People were continually in awe of Barb’s mothering abilities, keeping the children in handmade clothing and curled hair (except Wesley, she didn’t curl his hair). Barb sewed most of their clothing, made quilts, canned fruits and vegetables, and attended every concert and school function. The family lived in Lake Crystal, Alden, Hazel Run, New Ulm and Porter as they followed Thornton’s grain elevator career. Barb eventually retired to her home in Marshall.
Throughout her married life, Barb worked as a beautician, a factory worker in both New Ulm and Canby, and eventually was able to put her creativity to practice and buy a building in Porter. She opened The Quilting B where she spent hours creating and sewing many quilts. Barb was artistic. She drew, painted, embroidered and sewed.
Barb dedicated many hours to her church and communities, including several years as a First Responder in Porter.
Grateful for having shared her life are her children: Wanda (Mark) Paluch, LeAnne (Paul) Syring, Karla (Brad) Clausen and Wesley (Jody) Pronk; 10 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren; her siblings: Patricia Prange, Pike (Marcia) Helleksen, Sandy Young and Joni (Van) Brostrom; and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Harland and Lydia Helleksen; her husband, Thornton Pronk; and one great-grandchild, Theo Paluch.