MANHATTAN, Kan. - Barbara J. Hacker, of Manhattan, Kansas, passed away peacefully on Oct. 25, 2016, after a recurrent struggle with breast cancer. There weren't many other battles she lost.Barbara was born on Oct. 21, 1931, in Jacksonville, to Paul and Ruth Davidsmeyer.She graduated from Valparaiso University in 1954, and lived for more than 20 years in the Washington, D.C., area, where she met and married David Hacker. Barbara and David lived in Manhattan through most of the 1980s, when David was editor of the Manhattan Mercury. They spent the next decade in northern Michigan, returning to Manhattan in the late 1990s after a few too many cold winters.Barbara was exceedingly active in the community, quietly volunteering countless hours over the years in various community service organizations and her beloved Unitarian Fellowship. She was an avid tennis player in earlier years, and right up to her final weeks she was actively engaged in multiple book clubs, bridge games, and coffee groups.Her bright spirit shines on in her many close friends in Manhattan and elsewhere, and in her brother, Bill Davidsmeyer (and his wife, Correne); in her daughters, Dr. Sandy Johnson (and her husband, Willie) and Sarah Hacker; and in her son, Johathan Hacker (and his wife, Kristen Donoghue). Barbara is also survived by her grandchildren, Caleb, Zachary, Evan, Chealsea, David, Maggie, and Ellie; and great-grandson, Taylor. She was preceded in death by her husband, David, in 1999 and stepdaughter, Holly Hacker, in 2016.Please join us in celebrating Barbara's life 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at the First Congregational Church, 700 Poyntz Ave., Manhattan, Kansas, with reception to follow at the Wareham Opera House, 410 Poyntz Ave.Memorial contributions may be made in Barbara's name to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Manhattan (uufm.net) or the Manhattan Emergency Shelter (mesikansas.org).