Barbara Ann Stepan

CALAIS – Barbara Ann Stepan, 77, of Calais, Maine died peacefully in her home on Monday, August 19, 2024. As she wished she will be interred near her brother John in the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Sedan Minnesota. Services will be arranged with the family in Minnesota.

Barbara was born Sept. 25, 1946, in Glenwood, Minn. to Evelyn (Goerdt) and Ferdinand Stepan. She was the oldest girl in a family of ten children. Raised in a farming family with a strong Catholic faith, she had memories of a childhood that included happy times with siblings and friends and also her extended family of many cousins who she loved. Barb went to secretarial school after graduating from high school and then worked for the government as a secretary. She travelled the world with her job, saw Australia and New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, and Bali, and lived in the Philippines for several years.

When she returned home to the United States she met and married Dragan Zivkovic in New York City. They had a daughter, Tanya. After their divorce Barb returned to Minnesota and worked as a secretary for various companies until she retired in 2015. Barb was deeply invested in her family and proud of the accomplishments of her brothers and sisters and their children. She loved following the activities that her nephews and nieces were involved in while she was living in St. Cloud and then in Bloomington. After her retirement she moved to Maine to live with her daughter in Calais.

Barb was in delicate health during the past year and received excellent care locally at the Calais Regional Hospital and at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, and extensive care at Mass General Hospital in Boston. She was a patient at Fresenius Kidney Dialysis Center, a place where she felt well taken care of and cared for. She received transportation from DownEast Community Partners and she loved their drivers, they always made her smile.

She had a silly streak and loved to watch YouTube videos about animals and would follow families online who had monkeys in their homes. She enjoyed reading and normally had a book nearby. She loved violets, her favorite flower, and they are always planted in the garden for her in the spring.

Barbara is survived by her daughter Tanya Zivkovic of Calais; and seven of her nine siblings. Jim (Conny) Stepan of Willmar, Minn., Catherine Dawson of St.Paul, Minn., Ferdie Stepan of Blue Earth, Minn., Donna (Ron) Bromenshenkel of Sauk Centre, Minn., Maurice (Cindy) Stepan of Sauk Centre, Minn., Daniel (Jane) Stepan of Sauk Centre, Minn., Maria (Dale) Rieland of Sauk Centre, Minn.; and 30 nieces and nephews.

Barbara was preceded in death by her brothers John and Kenneth; nephew Clint Stepan; great nephew Colton Deters; sister-in-law Lylan Stepan; parents Evelyn Ann (Goerdt) Stepan on May 29, 2018, and Ferdinand James Stepan on March 2, 2017.