tributes to BARBARA MARIE STUCKI ANDERSON
LIFE SKETCH OF
BARBARA MARIE STUCKI ANDERSON
By Joyce Lillie Anderson Shumway
September 8, 2016
BARBARA MARIE STUCKI ANDERSON
By Joyce Lillie Anderson Shumway
September 8, 2016
Barbara Marie Stucki Anderson was born of goodly parents in Salt Lake City Utah on October 3, 1924. She was named after her father’s mother. Her grandpa was walking by some fields one day and saw a beautiful sturdy girl working. “That’s the kind of wife I want” he said. He didn’t want a fragile dish for a wife, so they met and got married! Her grandparents on both sides were immigrants from Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland who knew the value of hard work and sacrifice, which was passed on to the following generations. She grew up in the Avenues in Salt Lake City under the shadow of the Great Depression. Her parents were an example of self-control and creativity in meeting their financial challenges. She doesn’t remember ever feeling deprived. She fondly remembers having adventures with her sisters Margaret and Bonnie. Her younger brother Richard spiced things up for the girls, as little brothers often do. She and her siblings learned how to have fun in spite of the lack of money. They played games of hop scotch, jacks, jump-the-rope, Fox and Geese and Run Sheep Run. A favorite pastime was chasing and catching grasshoppers in the nearby fields. They would keep them in boxes for several days and then try to teach them tricks like jumping over small obstacles. They thought they had them trained, but they were probably half dead by that time! Barbara was baptized in the tabernacle font on Temple Square, a special occasion that she always remembered.
Barbara attended East High School where she was named Home Economics Student of the year, and then went on to study at Brigham Young University. After her first year she returned home to work. She met and began dating a handsome returned missionary, Richmond Anderson, whose father had been a missionary companion of her father’s. As she began school at the University of Utah, Rich left the state with his army unit. They continued to write to each other and get better acquainted. For fun one day Barbara sent him a creative love letter that her girlfriends had showed her. It was cleverly worded so that one needed to read every other line to get the true meaning. If each line was read, it talked about breaking up. I guess this scared my dad into action, and soon he proposed to her in a letter, along with sending a large bouquet of red roses. Rich came home on leave for the wedding, and if you look at the wedding picture we have displayed you will see him looking his best in his army uniform. They had a short honeymoon and then returned to Chicago, where Rich was in the Japanese language training program. Soon after WW II ended they returned to Salt Lake City, where Rich enrolled at the University of Utah and was accepted into medical school. After several years of school and their first child, Rich decided on a career change. They moved to San Jose, California, to work for IBM. Various job changes brought them to Cody Wyoming, Encino and Tarzana California and finally to Bountiful Utah. Rich passed away in 1994 from a heart attack, and since then Barbara has lived in North Ogden near her son Doug and Pleasant Grove near her daughter Joyce.
Barbara had a keen sense of design and was very sensitive to all things beautiful. She followed that interest by taking several art and design courses in college. She enjoyed teaching children art for several years at the elementary school I attended. She planned an annual art show for all the students each year. She also enjoyed creative stitchery, and examples of her work are on display here today. She combined her love of children’s art, ceramics and stitchery by creating a panel depicting the children’s song “There’s a Little White Duck”. She asked my brother when he was young to draw the characters from the song, and then transformed the pictures into a creative piece of art.
Barbara loved to learn and try new things. Making raw clay into exciting shapes and colors was a favorite activity of hers. She was constantly designing and caring for her garden and home. She became a La Leche League advisor in the 1960’s when bottle feeding was the popular thing to do at that time. She was passionate about helping young mothers learn about the benefits of breast feeding.
When her children were all in school she went back to college, majoring in Home Economics with a special emphasis on foods and nutrition. She received her bachelor’s degree from California State University Northridge and was accepted as a member of the American Dietetic Association. With her experience as a registered dietician she was able to guide many people into quality eating patterns. She continued using her training when she lived in Bountiful to work with the Teen Mother program at the University of Utah, as well as helping plan meals at the Golden Years Senior Citizens Center in Bountiful.
Before I close I would like to share a personal experience I had a few days before my mother passed away. I was reading scriptures with my family before breakfast one morning, and we happened to read Alma 7:23. Alma was preaching to the people in Gideon about what kind of life they should be living. As I read that verse it encapsulated exactly how I feel my mother lived. She was a great example to her children of living a righteous life. Here is the verse that is a tribute to our mother:
“And now I would that ye should be humble, submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times;
….. and always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.”
Thank you, mom, for teaching us by your example. We hope to follow in your footsteps as we continue on with our lives. I bear my testimony that our Savior loves us and wants us to be happy. He has taught us how to live by his example as well, and I am so grateful to him. I love my family and the support we have been to each other over the years. I say these things in the name of………….
“I always loved bottled peaches, and I still really like them. If you want to win my heart, just give me a bottle of home canned peaches” direct quote from Barbara
Please enjoy a taste of dark chocolate – one of Barbara’s favorite treats!!!!!
Creative Stitchery
made by Barbara’s
granddaughter Lauralee, who studied
several books and learned the techniques
Barbara knew so well