Barbara Ellen Hall

Barbara is survived by her husband of 58 years, Joe; children Rick Hall and Donna (Bob) Blume; grandchildren Bailey, Paige and Andrea Blume. Barbara's sister Elaine (Frank) Chandler also survives her. Barbara's Memorial Service will be at 4:00pm on Friday, Oct. 12, 2012, at Lakewood Church of Christ, 455 S. Youngfield Court, Lakewood, CO. Private placement of her cremated remains will be at Crown Hill Cemetery, Garden of Reflection.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to Wilderness on Wheels Foundation, P.O. Box 1007, Wheat Ridge, CO 80034. The Foundation operates a model wilderness-access facility which makes a Colorado mountain environment accessible to all.

A letter written by Donna Blume (Barbara's daughter) about her mom a couple years ago when she was being honored the "Women In God's Service" award.

Barbara Ellen McClure was born October 23, 1933 to Guy Poston and Cladia Ethal McClure in Dallas, TX. Dallas is where she continued to live throughout her childhood years.

When she was born, her mother says “she was too beautiful to resemble any one”. (I like that!) From her mother’s memory, these are some other things I learned about my mom:

1. Favorite doll – Shirley Temple Doll

2. Best subject in school – English

3. Showed talent in – Fashion design

4. Ambition was – playing the piano

5. Favorite music – operetta

6. Favorite sport – swimming

7. Major interest – clothes

8. Spare time spent – reading

My mom says that her mother was determined to make her a star. At the young age of three, she was enrolled in classes such as Tap dance, Expression lessons, voice lessons and piano….mom finished by saying “it didn’t work!”

Mom grew up in the Edgewater Church of Christ where she was very involved, winning Bible Quizzes and basically just being a good girl.

Mom was five when her sister Elaine was born, and they had a very good relationship as sisters. My Grandmother said Barbara was very helpful and was happy to let Elaine tag along to almost anything. Although mom and Elaine have been unable to live their adult lives near each other, they continue to be good friends and support for each other.

Barbara went to Sunset High School in Dallas, where my dad says she was a “real Dish”!! (He also mentioned that she continues to be a dish, although in a different category now). Mom was a senior when she met her future husband Joe Donald Hall at a school party. Barbara saw Joe right off….because he was with his friend John Lindner….a tall dark curly headed hunk that mom was interested in! They went on one date, which apparently did not go very well, and she quickly wised up and set her sights on Joe. They dated while she attended Arlington State College while living at home. She then went to Abilene Christian College (where she grew extremely lonesome for Joe), and went back to Dallas within the year. She graduated with an Associates Degree in Business Administration at Arlington, while Joe was in school at Texas A&M.

They married on Sept. 24, 1954 at the Edgewater Church of Christ and moved to College Station, where Barbara worked as a secretary while Joe finished his degree in Civil Engineering at A&M. After graduating, Joe’s short Army stint and career assignments sent the two of them to…..Kermit Tx, Midland Tx, Washington DC, Fort Hood Tx, and Electra TX….where the two became three…with the birth of their first child, Richard Bruce Hall on Sept. 17, 1958. He was a cute boy, but the best was yet to come.. where, while living in Amarillo, TX, their beautiful baby girl, Donna Ellen Hall, was born on Feb. 27, 1963. The family was finally complete!! The four of us lived in Amarillo, TX, Topeka KS and Edmond, OK before landing for good in Denver, CO on August 10, 1975.

It was important to my mom to be home with us while growing up, so her life’s energy was given to her family. She was a Cub Scout Leader, Brownie Leader, Girls Scout Leader, and Room Mother EVERY year we were in school. She was so dedicated to her roles, that one year when I was only three, she gathered up Ricky and all the other Cub Scouts from school and headed to their event…………..only to realize she had left me at the school!!! She of coarse hurried back to the school, where she found me with the full attention of the school staff, ice cream in hand, as if nothing had happened ! My house was the one everyone knew they could go to for the warm batch of cookies after school or the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Mom was always around, always there to help. She also started teaching Sunday School when Rick was a little guy, and has never stopped!! She has fully enjoyed teaching children about Jesus for decades and touched an unknown number of children with her gentle words. (the one time she mentions NOT liking her Sunday school teaching is when she taught MY class when I was three….mom says I wanted to be the teacher and things just did not go well)…Anyway, maybe that when she decided Kindergarten was her favorite age….and she did that for years. Now, she has graduated to the ones and twos, which she thoroughly enjoys!

After I graduated from high school, mom had a short stint as a Teacher’s Aide at Kyffin Elementary School. She then went on to become a co-owner of a lovely English Tea Room/Gift shoppe named The Lemon Cheese Co. She owned one in Applewood and another in Larimer Square downtown. She enjoyed this for ten years, then sold out so she and dad could enjoy more travel.

While being at Lakewood Church she has been involved in countless women’s retreats, family retreats, youth group sponsorships, ladies’ activities that have included everything from China painting lessons to knitting for Dry Bones. Mom and Dad have hosted their Home Church for years. Every time I turn around I am learning something she has quietly paid for or help with.

See that’s my mom….quietly living her life for the Lord. She has not done anything particularly notable in this worlds’ eye….no huge career, no building of a mission work, etc etc………..my mom has quietly, graciously changed the lives of the ones she loves by being there for them….that is her legacy!

My mother LOVES to travel, and she and Dad have enjoyed many trips with close friends from this Lakewood church…Jack and Nonnie Young, George and Bev Gaiser, Alan and Shirley Carlin, Norm and Sandy VanHueklem, and that’s just to name a few. Mom loves to sleep late…. She loves her Colorado sports!! In fact, my husband Bobby wanted me to mention how much she has meant to him over the years. But above all, is the fact that if he needs any stat or information concerning the Rockies or the Av’s…he knows he can call his mother-in-law! He just thinks that’s the best!!! But above all, she loves to spoil her grandchildren! Bailey, Paige and Andi have had the blessing of living near the Grandmother all their lives and her love and support for them has given them an understanding of how much they are loved, and a sense of self-worth that can not be measured. Even though Mom loves to travel, she has been known to change dates, or cancel all together to be at one of the girls’ events. I have calculated that she has been to over 576 soccer games, 62 volleyball games, 27 piano recitals, 32 choir concerts, 21 field days….and countless other activities the girls have been involved in over the 21 years of her being a Grandmommy!!

Mom loves her children and grandchildren no matter what we do. She has felt the heartache in seeing some bad decisions we’ve made, watched dreams she’s had for us go unrealized, and prayed countless hours in the worries of what lies ahead for each of us…………..BUT……………this is not what she shows! She chooses to support each of us, constantly reminding us how special we are, how much she believes in us.

I have no doubt where this kind of love comes from….it is from the life-long love of, and rest in her Lord Jesus Christ. And that love has spilt over into the lives she touches, impossible to not feel, impossible to not change those who have been blessed to be in it!

In my eyes….my mom’s life is a true example of what a Christ-like life should look like…touching those around us, never faltering in your love for them, never giving up on them!

For all those in this room who have given your lives loving your family…. for those young mother’s wondering if your sacrifices will make a difference….and for those sitting in this room who will never become moms….

I’m here, a living testimony, to the difference we can make by living steady, never wavering lives of support for those we love…for those God places in our lives.

To me there is no greater calling….and to me there is no greater example…………than my mom!!

Barbara Ellen Hall