Barbara Lorene Bogue

Barbara (Zimmerman) Bogue passed away on Friday November 28, 2025. She was born on April 23, 1942. She leaves behind her sister, Lois (Phil) Ellis and half-sister Kandi Resnick, her nieces, Joni Ellis, and Lora, Kathy, and Vicki Franklin, and nephew Phillip Ellis, five great nephews and four great great nephews and three great great nieces and one great great great nephew, as well as her many published creative and scholarly works. She was preceded in death by her father George Zimmerman and her mother Marietta (Ice) Teal, sister, Sharon Franklin.

After finishing her B.A. at Indiana University and her MFA at Wichita State University, Barbara taught at Ball State University as Associate Professor of English until her retirement.

A Funeral Mass will be on Friday December 5, 2025, at 3:00 pm at Ballard and Sons in Daleville Visitation will be from 1:00 pm until the time of the service. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St Lawrence Church or to Hillcroft Services.

Barbara would like her family and friends to celebrate her life with the attitude, if not the actions, of the speaker in her poem below.

Requiem

When I die, bake rhubarb pies, hand out Manhattan perfects, toss out the teetotalers, play Etta James on the stereo, volume on max, mellow the mix with reggae and ragtime, pile up all photos, love letters, and tax returns, then build a bonfire, roast marshmallows, the marriage license, invite my ex, spiking his scotch with saccharin and arsenic, lie to his lover and tell her I liked her, then line my coffin with rejects from journals, bind all my stories with berries and bourbon, read them then suck the spine dry, dig for the bong stashed in the shoebox, last row to the right in the back closet, tamp it with weed from the coffee can, top shelf of the pantry, get wacky and wise, then boogie on down to the dive on the corner, cork all your comments till you're drunk and delightful, then pressure the priest to toss.