- Date Of Birth: February 20, 1932
- Date Of Death: August 21, 2017
- State: Idaho
The world lost a beautiful soul on Monday, August 21st as Barbara (Stewart) Easter passed away at a local hospital after a courageous battle with pulmonary disease.
Barbara was born on February 20, 1932 in Giltner, NE. She was the 4th child of parents, Ralph and Opal Stewart.
In 1934 the family moved to Wilder, Idaho where her dad worked as farm Forman for the Peckham family. It was a hard, but happy life. The family moved by Lake Lowell the summer before Barbara started 1st grade. This was where Barbara learned to swim. One afternoon Barbara swam out too far and was caught in a swift current and began to drown. Luckily her oldest sister, Nina, pulled her to safety, even though Nina couldn’t swim. Thank you, Nina.
A year later they moved to Caldwell on Montana Ave. where for the first time they had indoor plumbing.
Her brother, Buck, told stories of how he and Barbara would ride on the big milk truck as their daddy was making his dairy deliveries. Daddy would make up goofy little, ‘ ditties ‘ that Barbara taught her boys and her grandchildren.
She sang in quartets and lady’s sextets along with singing solos. Music was an extremely important part of her life. Due to an illness, Barbara had to stay out of school for a year but graduated before attending Walla Walla College. She remained very close to several of her Academy classmates.
In 1954 she married Scott Easter and their union produced 4 wonderful boys. They divorced in 1966.
Barbara worked at 1st Security Bank, Nashua Homes, and Mutual of Omaha before a life changing opportunity presented itself when she and her 2 youngest boys moved to Eastern Pennsylvania where she was Asst. Dean of Girls at a SDA co-educational boarding school. It was hard leaving everything she knew especially her 2 older boys, Greg and Doug who were both attending BSU. After living on her parent’s small cattle ranch, Pennsylvania was a big change. But she and the boys, Brad and Bobby, adjusted and really loved the people and being close to so much history and professional sports teams. She took both boys to many Phillies games.
After 2 years Barbara was promoted to Head Dean at San Pasqual Academy in Escondido, CA. It was close to the beach and only a half a mile from the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
In 1980 she accepted a position as Dean at a larger school in Southern Oregon close to Canyonville. It was a beautiful place. Nothing compared to her next assignment 5 years later when she moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. It was a great experience both at the multicultural school and the local flavor of Hawaii itself. She was very active in music where she sang in an island hoping group called,” Pacific Island Praise”. They performed, “The Witness ” along with, “The Homecoming “.
In the summer of 1986, Barbara lived in Tokyo, Japan. She had many Japanese students and this experience helped her get to know their culture even better.
But Mom’s greatest achievement was all the friends she made throughout her life. All the young people whose lives she impacted in a positive way. When it was revealed on social media that Barbara was sick, dozens upon dozens of her former students posted words of love and support. She truly made an impact on so many.
Her greatest wish is for all her friends and family to be ready for Jesus and for,” all of us to go to Heaven together “. She prayed many times throughout the day for this to happen.
Her sons are truly lucky to have had such a wonderful example of how love is given, unconditionally.
We love you Mom and will and will miss you terribly. You gave us so much and we love you more than ever.
She is survived by her sons, Greg (Priscilla) of Tustin, CA, Doug (Ramona) of Coeur D’Alene, ID. Brad (Kim) of Redlands, CA. and Bob of Boise. Five grandchildren, Matt, Steve, Caitlin, Tanya, and Michael, along with one great grandchild, Brian and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, both sisters and her brother.
