Barbara Joan Maier

On, Tuesday, June 20, 2023, at 7:17 a.m., Barbara Joan Maier, loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, passed away, at the age of 82, after a long and brave battle with Parkinson's Disease. She was born June 1941, in Skagit County, WA. Barbara never gave up hope and never stopped fighting against her disease even until the very end. She always wanted to do more than her physical body would allow. Barbara considered her home Eugene, OR, but at the time of her death, she resided in Medford, OR.

Barbara was raised by her parents in Skagit County, WA where both her maternal and paternal grandparents owned dairy farms and sold milk to Darigold. She spent a happy, carefree childhood with her sisters, running between her home and her grandparents farms. She attended school in the Burlington-Edison school district. After her sophomore year of high school her father, a civil engineer, moved their family to Eugene, OR. Barbara graduated from South Eugene High School in 1959.

She attended the University of Oregon for two years until she married Kenneth R. Maier in 1961 in Eugene, OR. They were married 25 years. Barbara supported her husband while he attended medical school at the Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, OR. Barbara moved around the country with her husband while he was in post-graduate-training. They spent time in Minneapolis, MN, Atlanta, GA, Omaha, NE and Martinez, CA during his residencies before settling in Florence, OR, where they raised their family of five children. They moved their family to Dutch Harbor, Alaska in 1984. In 1987 Barbara returned to Eugene, OR, after she and Ken divorced. Barbara returned to Alaska again, but this time she moved to Soldotna, AK, on the Kenai Peninsula, where her three daughters and their families resided. She finally settled in Medford, OR when her daughter Kathryn and her family relocated there from Alaska.

Barbara was a devoted member of the Lutheran church. She believed Jesus to be her Savior and enjoyed playing Christian hymns on her piano. She was a breast cancer survivor of 22 years and participated in many annual walks to raise money for cancer research. She was an avid University of Oregon Duck fan and loved following U of O football. She loved to cook, sew and run the household for her family. She loved gardens and especially liked to tend to rose bushes, strawberries and tomato plants. For a time, she took photography classes and learned to develop her own photos. Barbara loved taking candid photos of her family and displayed many pictures throughout her home and in memory albums. She was also a majorette and a flutist in high school. She always had a wanderlust to travel. Barbara was devoted to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and always provided support and love to her family.

Barbara will be missed by her family. She never missed dance recitals, musical concerts or sporting events and she loved to travel to visit her adult children and their families in the many places they lived. We will especially remember her delicious buttermilk pancakes, chicken noodle soup with dumplings and her goulash. Birthdays will not be the same without a phone call from her serenading us with the Happy Birthday song in its entirety before we could barely answer “hello.”

Barbara is survived by her former spouse Kenneth Maier and their children, Elizabeth (Robert) Dimick, Suzanne (James) Goggans, Thomas (Darla) Maier, Daniel (Erin Johnson-Wernli) Maier, and Kathryn (David) Richardson. Her grandchildren, Kacia (Lucas) Oliver, Seth (Monica) Dimick, Connor (Ashley) Dimick, Kylie (Kenneth) Werth, Heidi (Mostafa) Hassan, Lindsay (Dylan Weatherford) Lucking, Rachel Lucking, Luke Lucking, Madelaine Maier, Gabrielle (Spencer Junkin) Maier, Luke Maier, Logan Maier, Clark Maier, Brooke Richardson, Elise Richardson and Jackson Richardson. Her great-grandchildren Everleigh Oliver, Edith Oliver, Elroy Oliver, Miles Dimick and Nora Dimick and her sister, Karen (Louis) Mendes. Barbara is also survived by many cousins, nieces, nephews and extended family. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Hjalmer and Ardith and her sister Marianne.

All family and friends of Barbara are welcome to attend the graveside service and interment of ashes in the Legion Garden at Green Hills Memorial Cemetery, 11157 Gardner Road, Burlington, WA on July 8, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. Barbara’s cremains will be buried with her parents. Immediate family, extended family and close friends are invited to a Celebration of Life at La Conner Seafood and Prime Rib House, 614 1st Street, La Conner, WA, on July 8, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. This venue overlooks the Swinomish Channel with a view of the Rainbow Bridge, which is a deck arch bridge, designed by Barbara’s father, Hjalmer, as part of the Skagit County Bridge Program in the 1950's.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Barbara's name to: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, https://www.michaeljfox.org, the Dr. Susan Love foundation for breast cancer research, https://www.drsusanloveresearch.org, or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital http://www.stjude.org

Thank you to the staff at Avamere Health Services of Rogue Valley, Asante Wound Care and the hospice staff at Providence Hospital Home Health in Medford, OR who poured out their love for our mother while caring for her.