Woman that is.......

Barbara,
Woman, so strong
Spirit, so bright
Mother, so present
Friend, so faithful

Wrote, so effectively with skilled hand, touching hearts
Love, in abundance

Laughing with us
Crying with us
Here ever present

You sang your song my friend
then you had to go...
Yet, you did not leave us with your song still in you.
You sang your HEART OUT!!


Thankyou dear Graham for the inspiration you gave me to write a poem to your wonderful mom. What a gift your mom gave us by being in our life. I feel so
blessed by your moms presence in my life.
I love you Babs
I love you Anna
I love you Graham
I will be there for you always.

Aloha for now Babs,

Friend & companion forever,

anitalei

For My Friend Barbara

I am

The Rock

The River

The Tree

Spirit in All

You and me.

Birds are singing

A song of Love and Life

A little dog barks nearby

And beyond in the shade

A Violet

Showing its delicate face

Its leaves form a stunning cape

Fragrant, lovely and delicate.

The flower will fade away

Its leaves will dry

But fear not!

The Violet's strong roots will survive

Summer heat and Winter frost.

Next Spring

It will be there again

Fresh and new

And beautiful as ever.

By: Lilo Kangas

My kindred spirit...

I worked with Barbara for about 4 years at Boyle & Stoll, CPAs in the early 90's. We made an instant connection with easy laughter and a "real life" sense of spirit. What fun we had with discovering this new thing called the "internet!" Should Boyle & Stoll get a "storefront?" How should we get in the game?

I got to be a part of her children's lives through her daily stories about their antics (I had babies then, so it gave me a great glimpse into things to come.) Mt family bought her swing set from her - and just gave it away to another budding family a few months ago.

I had lunch with Barbara a few months ago and didn't recognize her when she first walked through the restaurant door (it had been quite a while since we had last seen each other). But as soon as she donned that dazzling smile, it all came back to me. At that time, she was optimistic about the future and in such good spirits. I feel blessed to have reconnected with her when I did, and to get one more dose of this beautiful woman before she passed away. I will sorely miss your kindred spirit, Barb, but will hold you in my memory always.

Katheryn

Babs

Babs

The right time to meet. I beleive Bab's came into my life for a reason. She showed me how truely wonderful it is having a speceal close friend in your life. A friend who is there for you any time of day or night, A friend who can put a big smile on your face in troubled times, a friend that shows you a different prospective leaning towards the positive, a friend who displayed continually the love of her children, Graham & Anna, and how ever grateful she was to have given birth to these two wonderful human beings. She is our teacher in oh, so many ways. Bab's strived to be the very best she could be, as a Mom, as a friend, Spiritual Practioner & her work ethics were
set very high. She went to great lengths to help clients find what worked for them in their health care needs and made many friends
doing so. An inspiration to us all. I can say she was/is a nourishing food in my life.
Hey Bab's, wanna go climb Half Dome? I'll meet you there some day.

And so it is............
Your best friend always,

anita

Invitation to Memorial

Here is the invitation to the memorial celebration.  Please go here for details and to let us know if you are coming:  http://www.pingg.com/rsvp/3bvmfkqh5itxf4xtb

At Two Acre Wood - New Year's 2006

Volunteering at a Pat Wiggins event May 2006

Barb at Christmastime 2009

Other obituary notices

Sonoma West Times and News:  http://www.sonomawest.com/articles/2010/06/14/sonoma_west_times_and_news/obituaries/doc4c1015db3dbfa950807402.txt

West County Gazette:
http://sonomacountygazette.blogspot.com/2010/06/celebrate-barbara-wilsons-life-june.html

Funeral notice in Press Democrat

Here is a link to the funeral notice in the press democrat:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pressdemocrat/obituary.aspx?n=barbara-jean-wilson&pid=143488862

I miss and love you Mom. Say hi to Pop, Gee, and Tom for me :)

Memorial Invitation

Here is the invitation to the memorial celebration.  Please go here for details and to let us know if you are coming:  http://www.pingg.com/rsvp/3bvmfkqh5itxf4xtb

Barbara's last career

Barbara and I met at a series of weekly meetings at the home of Betty Smith in Santa Rosa. She shared that she had been looking for work for quite some time with no success. Appreciating the integrity that she displayed, my husband, Tom, and I worked out a business deal with Barbara where we would train her in our insurance business for one year. She demonstrated all the necessary attributes of being a successful insurance agent and then some.

At the end of one year, she was off and running on her own. She took her work very seriously, and did an excellent job for her clients. In short order, she had so many referrals coming in that she didn't have to market.

Many times Barbara thanked us for giving her a new career. We are most grateful that her career continued to provide her with an income throughout her illness.

Barbara was an exceptional woman and an excellent communicator. We will always hold a warm feeling in our hearts for her.

Tom and Vivian McFarling

Barbara and I met...
... through the insurance industry. She and I would often sit together at meetings or share a ride to an out-of-town event related to our work.
When I found out that Barb's health kept her from fulfilling all of the duties of her work, I offered my help. Whenever she (or Graham) asked, I would assist.

But my real work for her was taking her away from it all, out into nature. We went to the boardwalk at Doran Beach. This was new to her, as was the marble sculpture (Dancing Whales) by Warren Arnold. We nestled down in the sling chairs I had brought, and covered with layers of blankets, Barbara sat and watched, and smiled. It was obvious, how much she enjoyed the outing.
Other times, we would go to Ragle Park, walk the Peace Garden, and take a little stroll. The last time we went there, one day after her birthday, we found a myriad of wildflowers; birds were singing. She loved it.
I wished we had gone more often!
In loving memory,
Lilo Kangas

Barbara's obituary

Barbara Jean Wilson of Sebastopol, California passed away peacefully in her home on May 25 2010 surrounded by close friends and family after a 14-month battle with breast cancer.  Barbara was born on May 4, 1956 in San Gabriel, California to Ruth (Williams) and Brenton Wilson, and was one of three children.  Survivors include son Graham Goodenough of Sebastopol, daughter Anna Goodenough (Dan) of Petaluma, sister Dianne Wilson (Gary) of Fort Jones, Peggy Potter, and Frank and Elena Lee of Grass Valley, and best friend Anita Graydon of Santa Rosa.  Barbara’s brother Tom passed away in 1985.  Barbara’s mother Ruth died in 1988 and her father Brent died in 2007.

Barbara’s family moved from Southern California to Etna California in Siskiyou County when she was 10.  After graduating from Etna High School in 1974, Barbara moved to South Pasadena to live with Peggy Potter, cousin to Barbara’s mother.  Barbara attended California State University of Los Angeles and she received tutoring and support from Peggy’s partner, Addison Potter, while in school.  In 1977, Barbara transferred to Scripps College in Claremont California and graduated with honors in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in Modern European History, Phi Beta Kappa.

While at Scripps, Barbara met Jim Goodenough whom she married in 1983.  Barbara and Jim have 2 children - Graham born in 1985 and Anna born in 1988.  The family lived in 2 homes in Santa Rosa between 1981 and 1991.  Barbara and Jim divorced in 1993.

Barbara worked during college at the campus Theatre Box Office and at Disneyland’s “Club 33”.  After graduation, she moved to Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a product manager at Racal Vadic.  Barbara then moved to Santa Rosa and continued her work as a product manager at LaserCraft. 

In 2004, Barbara moved to Sebastopol and lived at Two Acre Wood Cohousing for several years before finding and moving to her beloved “treehouse” off of Lynch Road.  During her time in Sebastopol, she was a founding member of the Global Heart Spiritual Center in Santa Rosa and became a licensed Science of Mind practitioner in 2007. In her last several years in Sebastopol, Barbara developed a very successful business, Creative Insurance Solutions.  She was admired by her clients for her personal and creative attention to their health insurance needs and her limitless energy for her chosen profession.

Barbara enjoyed close friends, golf, backpacking, tennis, baseball, books and reading, kayaking and road trips. She was also interested in and active in local politics.  Above all, Barbara enjoyed raising and hanging out with her loving children.

In March of 2009, Barbara was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer.  She never lost her love of life during her illness.  Anita, Graham and Anna as well as a large circle of friends were very close companions and caregivers during her final 14 months.

A memorial service and celebration of Barb’s life is scheduled for Saturday, June 19 at 1:30 pm at the Community Church of Sebastopol, 1000 Gravenstein Hwy North.  A potluck reception at the Church will follow the service.  The family requests any donations in Barbara’s memory be made to: The Ceres Project, The Sierra Club, Heartland Hospice, or The Santa Rosa Center for Spiritual Living.

Message from friends

Barbara was our family's health insurance agent (as she was for many).

She was incredibly helpful and kind to our family during our daughter-in-law's journey with breast cancer (OCT 2005) ending in Briana's death in our home (OCT 2008). Needless-to-say Barb's own discovery of breast cancer, right about the time of Bri's death was almost too much for us to bear. We saw her last in AUG 2009 for the fund-raiser evening at her home. Had a few exchanges with Graham and Barb related to the insurance business after that...

Barb was in my thoughts many, many times during the past nine months. We'll miss her lovely smile and compassionate heart. What a lady and great person she was!

~ Cynthe Brush & Bill Grey

From the Dalai Lama

This just seemed to apply here....
Dalai Lama: "Alongside our natural ability to empathize with others, we also have a need for others’kindness, which runs like a thread throughout our whole life. It is most apparent when we are young and when we are old, but we have only to fall ill tobe reminded how important it is to be loved and cared about, even in our prime years."

Memorial

We've set a date for the memorial. Saturday Jun 19 at 1:30 at the Community Church in Sebasstopol.