{"id":366366,"date":"2025-12-23T22:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/366366\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T22:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:43:08","slug":"a-j-barks-who-headed-a-nonprofit-that-provided-health-care-to-women-and-trans-people-dies-at-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/366366\/","title":{"rendered":"A.J. Barks, who headed a nonprofit that provided health care to women and trans people, dies at 42"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a huge loss.<\/p>\n

A.J. Barks, 42, died Saturday, a week after her husband, Matt Siemer<\/a>, 43, passed away.<\/p>\n

They suffered fatal injuries in a Dec. 13 car crash in Central Illinois.<\/p>\n

The Rogers Park couple \u2014 who each headed separate non-profit organizations in Chicago \u2014 had just returned from vacationing in Canada and were driving to pick up their dogs from a relative who\u2019d been taking care of the pups when they crashed during a snow storm. <\/p>\n

Ms. Barks was co-executive director of Chicago Women\u2019s Health Center, a nonprofit that provides health care access to women and trans people.<\/p>\n

She was pronounced dead at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said our goodbyes to her, and my husband kissed her fingers, and I leaned down and told her \u2018Go find Matt,\u2019\u201d said Ms. Barks\u2019 mother, Jean Barks.<\/p>\n

The end of her life marked the opportunity for a new lease on life for as many as eight other people who might receive her organs.<\/p>\n

Hospital staff, friends and family lined the hallway during a traditional \u201cHonor Walk\u201d meant to commemorate the life of donors as Ms. Barks was transported through the hospital en route to organ recovery surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cA.J. was an organ donor, and I think it would be honoring her to be able to save people\u2019s lives. This is how she lived,\u201d her mother said. \u201cAnd if it makes another family\u2019s wonderful Christmas that she was able to save a loved one, I think it would be the best present anyone could offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Barks and her husband focused their lives on helping others, friends and family said.<\/p>\n

Her husband started as a volunteer and was eventually tapped to serve as executive director of Mobile Care Chicago, a nonprofit that turns old RVs into mobile medical units that provide care to underserved communities in the Chicago area.<\/p>\n

Ms. Barks started as a volunteer and was eventually tapped to lead Chicago Women\u2019s Health Center.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Siemer and his wife, A.J. Barks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember her coming here in 2011 to volunteer and saying she was \u2018looking for her people\u2019 and then saying \u2018Oh, here they are,\u2019\u201d said Scout Bratt, co-executive director of the center. \u201cAnd what she meant was that she\u2019d found people whose values and commitment to feminine and gender justice and reproductive justice aligned with hers \u2014 people who wanted to make the world a better place.\u201d <\/p>\n

Under Ms. Barks\u2019 leadership, the center expanded its budget, staff and programming, Bratt said, noting that she had unique ways of showing how much she cared.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe collected different types of paper throughout the year that she thought would be a good match for someone in particular when it came time to wrap Christmas presents,\u201d Bratt said. \u201cThis woman is a shooting star of creativity and generosity, and her parallel was her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple met while studying at Truman State University in Missouri. She worked at a social service agency to support him as he got a graduate degree in philosophy from Duke University. And he worked at a bookstore to support her as she earned a graduate degree in women\u2019s and gender studies from Rutgers University.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to describe them,\u201d said Ms. Barks\u2019 close friend Emma Leavens. \u201cThey weren\u2019t kind in a passive way, and just being who they were prompted those around them to be more kind, help more people, do more good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Barks was born Aug. 31, 1983, in Missouri to Jean and Melvin Barks. She worked in administration at a doctor\u2019s office. He helped run an automotive machinist shop. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen A.J. was in the fifth grade, she wrote an essay on the importance of firemen. It won a contest, and she got to go up one of the big firefighter ladders, and she was so excited,\u201d her mother recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey haven\u2019t made a word that actually describes when a parent loses a child,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ms. Barks and Siemer had two dogs, German shepherd mixes named Korra and Opal, and were known to stop and chat with people in their neighborhood while taking the pups on walks.<\/p>\n

The couple moved from Washington, D.C., to Chicago in 2011 to be nearer to friends. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have liked to have them closer to us in Missouri,\u201d her mother said. \u201cBut I guess God wanted them in Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Mass to celebrate the lives of the couple is planned at 11 a.m. Jan. 19 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Florissant, Mo. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a huge loss. A.J. Barks, 42, died Saturday, a week after her husband, Matt Siemer, 43, passed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-366366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}