Barb passed away peacefully February 24,2023 after a nine year courageous battle with dementia.
Barb was born on July 18, 1932, the second child of Maurice and Blanche Sherlock in Beatrice, Nebraska. The family moved to Everett, Washington after a brief stop in Winona, Minnesota when Barb was around eight years old. She completed her schooling in Everett graduating from Everett High School in 1950.
After graduation, Barb promptly went to work as a secretary. As young people do, she would attend dances at Normana Hall. This is where she met the love of her life, Wallace (Wally) True. They were married in June of 1951 and enjoyed 56 years of marriage. After marriage, Barb became the domestic goddess extraordinaire. The two of them had countless excursions to the wilds of the Cascade Mountains, camping and fishing for the elusive King Salmon. On one trip, mom hooked a King. After an hour or so of dad coaching her from the shore, she landed a 36 pound King salmon to the absolute delight of dad! She was using 8 pound test line. Until the day he passed, he never came close to catching a fish of that size.
After several years of marriage, Barb and Wally welcomed a new addition to the family, daughter Patty (Pat). Being a mom was Barb’s calling. No matter what was going on in the home or how busy she was, she always had time to play and teach lifelong skills to her daughter. Mom did not drive so many times we would catch the bus to go uptown to shop (or window shop). What a fun afternoon that would be, always stopping at Woolworths, Newberry’s or Kress’ for a shared lunch!
After Patty graduated and left home, Barb and Wally continued with their fishing. However, now they would stay in a cabin calling it ‘Luxury’ camping. During this time they also looked forward for the nights the grand kids (Tara or Trevor) would spend the night. The magic that happened at grandma and grandpa’s home was special. What happened at grandma and grandpa’s house STAYED at grandma and grandpa’s house!
When Wally passed away, mom became an avid gardener. She transformed the vegetable gardens into beautiful flower and ornamental grass gardens. Barb was amazing in her strength and endurance, moving HUGE rocks from one place to another, never letting us know what she was doing. We would come over and the garden would be transformed in less than a week. She loved gardening so much that when the Riverside Neighborhood would have their monthly meetings, they would arrange to improve a senior member of the neighborhood yard/garden. Mom would always volunteer to help clean up said neighbors garden. She did not believe that SHE was a senior member of the neighborhood. This was well into her ’70’s!
When Barb turned 80, Patty and her daughter Tara (granddaughter) surprised Barb with a trip to Vegas! Barb had never been on an airplane before and only out of the state of Washington a handful of times, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada. On the flight, the crew found out about the occasion and gave mom her ‘Pilot Wings’ and the entire plane sang happy birthday to her!
Barb spent the last eight years of her life in Redmond to be closer to her family
Barbara leaves behind her daughter Patty (Pat) Wyke (John). Her granddaughter Tara Merino (Gerardo). Her grandson Trevor Wyke. Two grandsons, Alfredo and Armando. She was preceded in death by her husband, Wallace (Wally) True, two infant children, her parents, Maurice and Blanche Sherlock, her sister, Patricia (Pat) Mccallum.
We also want to acknowledge and thank moms caregivers for the loving care they gave mom last two years of her life, Lucia and Adrian Sigheartau and Emanuel Nutu and his staff.
There will be no services.
Having the courage to start and the commitment to finish…You simply cannot be beaten if at the end of the day some tiny part of you can still whisper, “I will try again tomorrow.”
Pat Wyke
The post first appeared on Barton Family Funeral Service.