Barbara L Haggard

Barbara was born October 9th, 1938, to Rex Lycurgus O’Neil and Jennie Arzella Cox in Fairfield, Idaho. She chose her Grandma Cox’s house for her arrival.

Barbara was always a curious mind as her sister Deana shared, “As we were growing up, our mother always said she could give me a piece of yard or a book and leave me sitting on the floor, and I would entertain myself for a couple of hours. Not so much with my sister, Barbara, who was just 13 months older than me. She was intelligent, had a very active & curious mind, and to say she was ‘strong-willed’ is putting it mildly. It was imperative that an adult know where she was and what she was doing at all times; if not, the results could be a disaster. Like the time when she was three years old and decided to bake Dad a cake...such an unselfish act of kindness! Except she dumped all of Mom’s flour, eggs, milk & butter in the bathtub and was trying to mix it together when she was discovered & innocently explained to Mom she was “baking a cake for Daddy.”

Barbara found her soul mate and life’s love in Walter Parley Haggard and together raised four children, John (Kathy), Mark, Wade (Carleen), & Rex (Jennifer). Barbara and Walt were quite smitten, writing many notes, poems, and love letters to one another over many years. In her writings, she described the first time she heard Walt’s voice as “…soft and loving as all mankind was meant to be.” Barbara loved to tell stories of their courtship, including Walt driving hours to see her. Many years later, she would reflect, “The day I received my engagement ring, and a ’66 LTD was a great day of joy, as were all the days to come.” Walt passed far too soon, but the courtship and marriage continued in her love for him.

After Walt’s passing, Barbara focused on her children, their wives and families, and her grandchildren. Her family was her life as one daughter remembers: “When I met Barbara she was Babz, her kids called her that, her friends called her that, she called herself that… I took a different approach and called her Mom. From the first day I met her, I claimed her as my second mother. She taught me a lot of valuable life lessons while spending hours talking and watching movies together. Several of my favorite recipes are from her capable cooking hands, and I am proud to have had the opportunity to call her Mom. When my eldest son was young, he had trouble with differentiating Barbara from Grandma and somehow blurted out “BooBamah” one day, and after a happy family chuckle at the slip-up, the name stuck! Later on in life, when my boys got a little older and cooler, in an effort to show her how much of a buddy she was, they changed “BooBamah” to “BroGrandma” thus initiating her into their bro club, dishing out and receiving a light-hearted teasing relationship with her. She loved having the nicknames the kids would come up with, and you could see her glow each time anyone called her by any of the terms of endearment they had created. Mom, Babz, Mima, BooBamah, BroGrandma, no matter what you called her, she was still Grandma Barbara. She loved her Grandkids with all of her heart. Her black and white striped clutch purse, which was always by her side, was packed full with pictures of her grandkids and toothpicks, making it easy to see what things she held to be the most important and valuable in her life.”

Barbara is survived by –

Children-

(Kathy), Wade (Carleen), Rex (Jennifer)

Grandchildren –

Kyle (Cherie), Liz, Luke, Lindsay, Mark, Stephane, Cade, Makayla, Pheonix Mace, Cash

Great Grandchildren –

Jocelynn, Kenzie

Siblings –

Hazel Deana O’Neil Croft, Michael Daniel Seidel, Joan O’Neil Pavkov, Phyliss O’Neil Macfarlane, Billie Kathleen O’Neil

Barbara was preceded by –

Husband -

Walter Parley Haggard

Sons –

John and Mark

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.palmcheyenne.com for the Haggard family.