had the loving care of her grandparents, more so than her father. Her grandmother Anna, however, was not a healthy lady and passed when Barbara was only 5 years old from a severe thyroid issue. This would be hereditary as Barbara had a thyroid condition that was medically controlled for over 55 years.
Her grandfather, Lucas, was the rock and idol of young Barbara's life. Barbara was a Grandpa's girl and he protected her well. Lucas became ill when Barbara was 12. She would leave school during her lunch break to walk home to administer his medicine. Fortunately, it was only about 5-6 blocks from the school to her house. She also took care of him before and after school. Unfortunately, Lucas passed on when Barbara was only 13. Even though this was post-Depression and WW II years, Lucas provided a wonderful home for Barbara. Lucas worked for Ryerson Steel for years and had a very good income. Barbara describes the home as very nice for that time era and being well provided for.
Barbara's remaining years at home were not quite as pleasant after her grandfather's death. Her father Casimir led an unsavory life, which prompted Barbara to leave home at age 18.
Kujawa is Polish decent. Her grandparents and father both spoke Polish. The family lived in a Chicago Polish neighborhood. She attended the local Catholic Parish grade school. The school had spelling, language, and reading classes in both English and Polish. As a result, Barbara was bilingual; she spoke Polish fluently and was also able to read in Polish.
Barbara also had beautiful handwriting, which she credited to the Catholic grade school and its strict insistence on proper penmanship. She shared that if the writing lesson was not going well it was not unusual for the nun to slap the student across the hand with a ruler to get the individuals attention to do it better.
After attending Catholic Grade School, she attended Kelly High School for two years. Barbara's next two years would be at the St. Pius V Commercial High School, which was for girls only at that time. The Commercial High School focused on training ladies in business law, filing, office organizational skills and general office procedures common in the early 1950's for a career as secretaries, bookkeepers, and accountants.
It was from her training at the St. Pius V Commercial High School that she first entered the trucking business in Chicago. During the summer between her Junior and Senior year, she first went to work for Denver Chicago Trucking Company doing miscellaneous office work in its Chicago terminal. Denver Chicago was a big company at the time with 33 full- time office ladies.
Barbara then worked for Consolidated Freightways doing freight billing after graduating High School. The C F terminal at the time was on the river where it swings down at the Damon Avenue Bridge. Robert Conrad, the actor, worked at the same terminal during the same time, although she did not know him or remember him then. C F was a large company and apparently they passed with different working hours.
After Consolidated Freightways she worked for several different truck lines, including Southern Plaza, Chicago Express, and finally Healzer Cartage Co., gaining experience and making friends that lasted a lifetime.
It was at Healzer Cartage Co that she met her husband Bill. By this time Bill had formed Gully Truck Leasing and had 8 road tractors leased to Healzer. They met in 1955 and married April 14, 1956.
After their marriage, Barbara became the bookkeeper for Gully Truck Leasing. Later, when Hannibal Quincy Truck Lines was purchased, she became its Secretary/Treasurer. For years Barbara would do the bookkeeping on the Gully Truck Leasing trucks from home in a basement office. The office was eventually moved out of the home in 1971 to the old office portion of the existing Gully terminal.
It was a partnership of Barbara and her husband Bill that grew the companies piece by piece to what eventually is known today as Gully Transportation. Purchases of other companies were all consolidated into Gully.
Barbara's life revolved around standing with her husband building the family truck line, raising three children, and being affectionately fond of her grandchildren and her dogs.
She remained Secretary/Treasurer of Gully Transportation until her recent change of status from life on earth to Heaven. While she ruled the office and company sternly she was also known for her generous loving heart. Barbara was definitely the Matriarch of both the family and the truck line.
For many years Barbara served on the Board of Directors for the Quincy Humane Society. She had a tremendous love for dogs. One time she had 7 pets at home. Through attrition she narrowed down to one, back up to 3 and then finally two most recently. Her favorite dogs were Shetland Sheepdogs and Golden Retrievers. She also had several plain mutts through the years that were Human Society rescue dogs.
In addition to dogs she was fond of reading, needle pointing, gardening, and making sure the ducks on the lake behind her home were fed year-round.
Barbara was a very private lady. Even her concerning health conditions were not publicly known until just very recently. She made numerous donations to different organizations, churches, and schools with confidentiality requested. She also helped families that she knew during times of difficult needs.
She was raised of the Catholic faith but practiced the Protestant religion after her marriage. Barbara was a strong advocate of private religion-based schooling for her children. In Hannibal they attended St. John's Lutheran School. After moving to Quincy, they attended St. James Lutheran then finished High School at Quincy Notre Dame.
Barbara was challenged with several health conditions and became recognized as a fighter by her medical providers. In 2008 she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. She successfully combated it for 11 years even though the medication had harsh side effects on her body and health.
In 2017 she broke the femur in her leg. Dr. Hammock of Blessing Hospital in Quincy did a great job on her surgery. In the process Dr. Hammock used Barbara as a case reference for someone to fight to get back on their feet after such a serious injury at age 81. At the same time, he had a 17-year-old patient making no effort to get back up because it hurt. Dr. Hammock stated to the young patient that he had an 81-year-old patient doing circles around her at 17. Dr. Hammock was in awe of her determination to get back mobile and active. Barbara was a very strong and determined lady toward any challenge that came her way.
Barbara also had a severe case of Macular Degeneration. It was very frustrating for her. She had always been a busy person, independent and active. The loss of eyesight harshly ended many of the things she enjoyed, including reading and cooking. She despised losing her independence as a result of the eye condition.
It is unclear what actually caused her earthly passing. Despite battling her health, she had been physically stable up until the day of her departure. Her mind was of full capacity and she was medically stable.
The family does wish to express its satisfaction and appreciation to Dr. Daniels of SIU and Blessing. Dr. Daniels originally discovered Barbara had Multiple Myeloma. At the time there were not even any symptoms. Dr. Daniels, in an unrelated issue to her bad knee, just felt something was not right. For that reason, Dr. Daniels ordered a series of tests, crediting him for discovering the disease.
Barbara's husband of 63 years, William, departed just prior to her on May 13, 2019. Barbara was also preceded in death by her grandparents, parents, and an infant sister.
Survivors include three children, Michael (Ginny) Gully of Quincy, Jo Ann Gully of Columbia, MO., Janet (Dr. Steve) Liesen, and a step daughter, Sharon Kaye (Brad) Therrien of St. Charles, MO.; grandchildren Wills Nixon of Quincy, Rob Gully of Springfield, MO., Tegan (Marty) Nixon Mc Carl of Columbia, MO., Weston Liesen of Topeka, KS., Dr. Clayton Liesen of Boston, MA., Brandon (Alaina) Gully of Burbank, CA.;a step-granddaughter Renee (Adam) Bird of Nokomis, IL, great-grandchildren Isabel and Timothy Gully of Springfield, MO, a brother in law J. E. 'Jody' Gully of Barry, IL., and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
SERVICES: There will be a unique combined Visitation, Celebration of Life and Funeral for family, friends, company team members, and all acquaintances that knew Barbara on July 6, 2019 at the Crossing, 150 South 48th Street in Quincy. The family will have a receiving line before and after the services with the open casket. Receiving prior to the service will begin at 10:30 AM. The Celebration of Life with remembrances, followed by the funeral service, will begin at Noon. A luncheon will follow immediately after. The family will continue with the receiving line of guests in conjunction with the meal being served, to allow all guests the opportunity to speak with the family until they have completed their visit.
If you can attend the luncheon, please RSVP by July 1st via call or text to 217-224-4629 or luv2cropit@comcast.net