Jean Failing

Jean M. Failing, recently of Quitman, GA, and previously of Miles City MT, died Wednesday, April 6, 2022.  She was born Sept. 5, 1923, in Verdigre, NE, the daughter of Albert and Adella Pischel Barta.  As a young girl, she moved with her parents to a ranch near Buffalo Gap, SD, where she attended a one-room country school through the eighth grade.  She graduated from Rapid City High School in 1941 and from MacMurray Women’s College in Jacksonville, IL, in 1945.

After graduation, Jean was employed by the Illinois Civil Service commission in the field of public personnel administration.  In 1948, she and Charles K. Failing (Bud) of Indianapolis were married, and, a year later, they moved to Buffalo Gap, South Dakota, to join the family ranching business where they lived and worked until 1959.  At that time, the family ranch corporation known as A. J. Barta and Sons expanded to include a ranch near Miles City, Montana.  Bud, Jean and their children (Krieg and Susan) were sent to Montana to take care of the cows and to manage the new ranch.

In 1973, in accordance with long-range plans, the Failing’s assumed ownership of the Montana property which they operated as The Failings, Inc., for the next seventeen years.  Jean acted as the Secretary/Treasurer of the corporation.  They sold the corporation in 1990 and retired to live in Miles City and to travel the world.

After living in Montana for fifty years, at the urging of their children, Jean and Charles moved to Quitman, GA, in 2009 where they have enjoyed the comforts, care and friendships offered by the Presbyterian Retirement Community. During her lifetime, Mrs. Failing was an avid reader, and was an advocate for quality education.

Mrs. Failing was preceded in death by her husband, parents and brother, John Barta, and is survived by her son, Krieg Failing (Ann) of Centennial, CO, her daughter, Susan Whitson (Steve) of Monticello, FL, and her grandchildren, Katherine Richardson (Joseph), Margaret Andrews (Matt), and Shane Whitson.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be presented to the Brooks County Public Library, 404 Barwick Rd., Quitman, GA, or to the charity of the donor’s choice.

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