BARBARA ALLEN STEWART, FUHS 1953

In an email from Earlene Skelton Boyd (FUHS ’53) on Tues, May 29, 2012:

I got the call from Barb’s daughter, Wendy, this morning, that Barb passed away early this morning. No type of service has been talked about yet, but she will let me know when it is decided. Wendy thinks that Dick might just want a private service with the family, but she will let me know.
Love,
Earlene
(Earlene gave me permission to post this message. She had spent some time visiting with Barbara in Weed, California, a couple of weeks ago.)

6/20/2012

Earlene sent this information about her life-long friend to be posted on the blog. She visited Barbara a short time before Barbara died and they had a long visit, talking about good times. If anyone knows the years that Barbara’s brother and sister graduated from FUHS, please let me know. (Mary Ann Kraemer says that Kathy Allen graduated in 1960, the same year that her sister Sally did. She doesn't know when Brian, who was younger, graduated.)

 BARBARA ALLEN STEWART by Earlene Skelton Boyd, FUHS ‘53

 Barb was born Jan. 26, 1936, and passed away May 29, 2012, with her husband and daughters by her bedside. She had fought her battle with cancer courageously, just as she lived her life. She will be sadly missed by her husband, Richard, three daughters; Lori, Vicki, and Wendy, and one son, Guy, as well as 3 granddaughters. Her brother and sister (Brian Allen and Kathy Allen, each several years younger than she was) went to FUHS too, but I don’t know the years.

She had always been active in sports, particularly tennis, golf, skiing and hiking. She taught Special Ed. Classes for many years in Ventura, and then when her husband retired, they moved to Weed, where they bought 5 acres and built their dream home.

When she had free time, she started taking painting classes, and then learned to play the guitar too. She really enjoyed these hobbies. Some of her paintings were chosen to be shown in some Art Shows in her area. Many of them still hang on the walls in their home.

She and her husband took long bike rides over the years, one of them being to ride from Missouri to Minnesota to attend Richard’s 40^th Class Reunion. Another long bike ride was when Barb read an article in the paper about a bike ride, called the “Rag Brai”. They joined the group that rode across the state of Iowa “to prove that Iowa wasn’t flat”. They rode on a tandem bike.

Another major event in her life was that they climbed to the top of Mt. Whitney shortly before Barb’s 50^th Class reunion in Fullerton.

Their family enjoyed many ski trips to Mt. Hood, as well as Mt. Shasta and many other places. From their home in Weed, they had a good view of Mt. Shasta.

At one time they had taken in an exchange student from Germany. So, in later years after Franz was married with a family, Dick and Barb and their children visited Franz in Germany 3 times. They all enjoyed skiing while there.

No memorial services were planned.