As I write my sister's obit, my heart is crushed into a million pieces, never to be whole again. It is with the deepest sorrow that I announce on April 16, 2021, the passing of the greatest sister and aunt two people could ever have. Barbara L. Pickering, a 1960 graduate of Bay City Central in Michigan, passed away in complete peace from Glioblastoma Brain Cancer. This is a deadly and quick moving cancer, but she lasted 18 good months with no pain or sickness. It was discovered when she had an auto accident in Oct. 2019 and the tumor was jarred. She went into what you would think was dementia. She had surgery in January, 2020, did 15 days of chemo and radiation, then went into Holistic care in Indiana instead of using western medicine further. She wasn't fond of sticking to the very strict protocol of the care.
If she had, she'd probably be alive today, but we feel that the initial radiation took more of her cognitive thinking away than if she had only done holistic care. No one can "beat" this cancer no matter how hard they try, but Hospice was amazed at her health and longevity.
I need to say this about Barb's picture. So many people put years-old pictures in their obit, but that isn't so in this case. For 78, she never looked or acted her age.
Barb was born on August 17, 1942 in Bay City, MI. She attended Trinity Episcopal Church on Center Ave. and sang in the choir from a very young age until she left for Denver in 1965. She babysat for Rev. Bruce and Joy Moncrieff from the church who moved to Golden, CO and coaxed Barb to move out here. It changed her life forever and in turn changed mine when I followed in 1967. She attended Lincoln, McGregor and Central HS before completing her teaching degree at Michigan State. After a few years of teaching, she decided she didn't care much for kids, so she spent the next 26 years driving for UPS in Denver. She hated every minute of that job because she was one of the first women to be accepted in Denver and the men treated her with the utmost disgust AND she wanted that pension. She stuck it out until retirement at 59, sometimes lugging 100 lb. packages up 3 flights of stairs on her own. After retirement she rode as an assistant for Jefferson County Transportation for 18 years while I drove buses at the same time.
Being her only sister, I, Connie Pickering Resley, a 1963 graduate of Central HS, moved to CO in 1967, then our lives changed forever. I was always the risk taker, the life of the party, and the one to get the less adventuresome Barbara to do things like tracking gorillas in Uganda, jumping 12,000 feet from a perfectly good airplane, riding camels, elephants, and Ostrich's, go hang gliding and glider flying, cage shark diving with the great whites in South Africa, going into parts of Africa we shouldn't have been in, etc. We never met a stranger and that's what made our trips trips so great and unforgettable. We toured the world on a shoe string and NEVER had a reservation for sleeping on ANY night. We winged every trip and wouldn't have done it any other way. She was the brains and I was the common sense. We balanced each other perfectly. She'd get lost in a paper bag and I could get us anywhere. People around the world marveled at our relationship. Most of our trips consisted of landing in a country and just heading out to parts unknown. There are stories you'd never believe. We toured the 50 US states, and other countries such as: India, Russia, China, Vietnam, the Galapagos Islands, Thailand, Greece, Italy, Egypt, S. Africa, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Uganda, Kenya, Costa Rica, cruises (too dull for us), Zimbabwe where we walked with lions and flew over Victoria Falls, Canada, Macha Picchu, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Tanzania, Turkey, Norway, Sweden, Denmark , Austria, Germany, Switzerland, toured all the large parks on safaris and so much more. In South Africa we attended a wedding on the hillside being the only two whites with thousands of South Africans. It seemed we bumped into things very few people around the world will ever experience. We had lunch and dinner with Jane Goodall a couple of times. We held Pandas, Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, Koala Bears, dove 90 feet with Reef Sharks swimming between our legs and on and on and on. We were certified scuba divers for years, snow skied, water skied, and went ballooning several times.
Barb was cremated. Her ashes along with those of her deceased cats will be mixed with Connie's when she passes, Todd will scatter them somewhere in the Colorado Mountains when the wildflowers are in full bloom. Her brain was donated to The Brain Project. Barb was generous to a fault, compassionate, smart as a whip, caring and never had a bad word to say about anyone. We completed each other's lives without the tension, resentments, anger and jealousies of a married couple. It couldn't have been more perfect. She never married and I've been divorced 45 years so we had plenty of time to do it all.
We were together every day for the past 50+ years. We were closer than paint on a wall. We could even walk to each others house.
Barb is survived by her sister Connie, nephew Todd, who really stepped up to the plate with her care, her ex-brother-in-law, Ed Resley, and special friends Joyce Klosowski Liejewski of Bay City, MI, Cathy Whyte Perrou of Linwood, MI, Mary Yelenick of Woodstock, New York, Jackie Pines Baker of Traverse City, MI and Joy Moncrieff of Golden, CO
There's a dear, loving, caring angel somewhere today who is already helping others. She was cherished and is missed terribly. God Bless you Barb.
Barb gave to some 25 odd charities, many having to do with animals of all kinds including donkeys, elephants, dogs, cats, draft horses, as well as women. She changed many girls and women's lives around the world.
Here are some of the charities you may want to make a contribution to in Barb's honor: Heifer, Colorado Public Radio, National Public Radio, Women to Women, Children International
There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 8th from 11am - 2pm at the Elks Club on Jason in Englewood, CO. There will be a full meal, so please RSVP to [email protected] no later than Monday, May 3, 2021.
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