Barbara Stanford.  Just hearing the name evokes a picture of color, splash, energy and brilliance.  Barbara never did anything without flair and planning.   That planning habit might be traced back to the age of 15 when her parents, James and Edyth Shirey, presented her with twin sisters, Karen and Sharen.  To add insult to shock, the neighbors thought the babies were hers! But no, she had become a much needed big sister.  Barbara was a fifth generation native Californian. She was born in Los Angeles and grew up in Glendale and Burbank.  She lived her entire life in Southern California and she was very active in her community. 

Barbara was a lifelong learner.  Not surprising, she skipped a year in grade school.  She attended the University of Redlands, where surprisingly, she was asked to leave after she was caught smoking.  She then attended and graduated from the University of Southern California.  She returned to USC for her teaching credential.  She also graduated, with Honors, from UCLA’s Interior Design Program.   

 Barbara married Truman Earle, a fellow USC student and surveyor/engineer, in 1949. They then moved to Glendale, CA, where they prepared to start their family. Their first child, a daughter, Gretchen, was born in 1952, and a son, Garth soon followed in 1954. The family moved to La Canada where they were then presented with their baby brother, Garrett, in 1959. Gretchen thought he was darling and used to take him hiking. 

In 1961, Barbara started working with the school photographer for the Los Angeles City School District while she earned her teaching credential from USC. In 1962, Barbara started her elementary school teaching career at Pinewood School in Tujunga.  Over the next 26 years she taught 1st through 6th  grades.  She co-taught many years with her first conspirator in traveling, Alberta Lee.  

Barbara raised her kids the way she enjoyed her retirement.   There were plenty of museums and gardens to visits and a plethora of trails to follow and places to go.  Weekends and vacations were filled with trips to Descanso Gardens, Los Angeles Museums, camping trips, trips to the mountains or desert, and great restaurants to imbibe in.  She taught her kids to always learn, explore and question.  She taught 6 year old Garrett to enjoy liver and onions. She was so pleased when the chef of Chasens Restaurant had to come out and meet the little boy who ordered it for dinner.  Barbara taught them the importance of family, culture, community, kindness and love.  She told her kids they could be anyone they wanted to be and accomplish anything they wanted to do.  She was their biggest supporter and she would fight for what she thought they needed.  She taught kindness and compassion as well as if you are going to do something, do it right.  Take all the experiences that life has to offer you.  Even if that includes catching a tarantula and keeping it on your desk.  

Barbara always had a personalized license plate on her vehicle.  Most of the time it said B EARLE or B Stan4d.  But, for a while her plate said ZEUS DTR (Zeus’s daughter).  Can you guess why?  She drove a Porsche (Portia), of course.   

After her divorce from Truman, a fellow teacher and friend suggested that she join MENSA, the high IQ society.  This is an organization that you must test into.   No one was surprised when she passed the intelligence test and was accepted.  It was here she met Malcolm Stanford, or Dick as he was known. He was a retired traffic engineer with 4 daughters and a son.   The Stanford Clan grew to include spouses, 13 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.  His big family loved Barbara as much as she loved them. With her marriage to him in 1985, she embarked on the next phase of her life. And, oh it was busy.

1986 brought the best of times and the worst of times for Barbara as a mother.  Her daughter Gretchen married Chuck in February while wearing the same wedding gown that she had worn when she married Truman.  Her son Garrett married Donna in December and the wedding party and family traveled from ceremony to reception in a yellow school bus.  But, in between these joyous occasions, she endured the tragedy of losing her son Garth.  

Summer of 1988 was full of change!  Barbara retired from teaching, Dick and Barbara moved to the cute condo in Ontario, she turned sixty and had a big birthday celebration with over a 100 people.  And, her first grandson, Austin, was born.  Zachary followed in 1990.

Barbara personified the saying “ I have never been so busy since I retired.”  The freedom from working allowed them to travel and travel they did!   They had been to China on their honeymoon, unfortunately Barbara sans her luggage.  Their journeys took them all over Europe-Eastern and Western, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Mexico, Canada, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the Mediterranean, and French Polynesia. They traveled by jumbo jet and small aircraft, huge cruise ships, small boats, barges, sailing ships, railroads-trains, trams, subways and Trans-Siberia, cars, trucks, buses and even hot air balloon.  Barbara brought hats, books and toys to Austin and Zack from Russia, Mexico, China, Africa and all stops in between.   We like to think that her favorite trip was with Austin and Zachary to the Galapagos Islands where they visited Lonesome George.  Blue footed boobies have been near and dear to her heart ever since but puffins remained her favorite bird. Barbara has been on every continent except Antarctica, over 70 countries and all 50 states.  She traveled with Dick, her kids and grandkids, Dick’s kids and grandkids, her friends, her colleagues and every group she belonged too.  Her travels read like an atlas. 

Speaking of groups-what didn’t she belong to?  And what was she not president, vice president, board member, volunteer coordinator, planner, organizer or committee member of?  She was always the party girl, having a crunchy and libation with someone or some group. And, of course, her nails were always perfectly painted.  Her creativity, ingenuity, and talent guided her in her exuberance and planning. Every phone call Donna had with her included a recital of her over-booked calendar. Samplings of her endeavors are:  Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens, Magic Garden, USC University Hospital Guild, Los Angeles County Fair, Trojan League, Shakespeare Club, Bird Watching Club, Mt San Antonio Gardens Committees, American Association of University Women, Mensa, church, C Building, Tip Top Tap Alongs, Sigmas, Theatre Group, Town and Gown, Book Group, and Seed House.  She banked, birded, counted wildflowers and seeds, sold stamps, drove a tram, played bridge and Quiddler, watched the Lakers, Dodgers and Angels, saw play after play and performance after performance, opera after opera, lip read, and taught and nurtured children. She tap danced on the back of flat bed trucks and wore butterflies and spacemen on her head at volunteer appreciation dinners.  Nobody did it quite like Barbara. 

The Bot Gard, as she fondly called it, was very special to her.  For over 24 years she worked with some of her favorite people there.  The Butterfly Pavilion, Magic Garden, Seed House, nature interpreter and giving tours while driving the tram were her much loved activities.  

Her family and friends were her other joys.  She played in Big Bear, Laguna Beach, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Trinidad, and Oregon as she started traveling closer to home.   Her favorite trips were to see family and grandchildren getting married.  She loved being part of the big Stanford family clan and thrived playing the aunt with her sister’s, Karen and Sharen, families.   She loved spending time with her daughter Gretchen. They enjoyed hiking together and occasionally Gretchen would take her mom for a flight doing loops, spins and rolls in Gretchen and Chuck’s aerobatic airplane.  Barbara was always trying to embrace new technology, but it didn’t always embrace her back.  Chuck was Barbara’s go-to-guy to help her with her new Apple computer or product.  Barbara traveled north to Trinidad or Oregon twice a year to visit Garrett, Donna, Austin and Zack. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was just around the hill from them.  Barbara loved to take the boys to the county fair and introduced them to Harry Potter before the rest of the United States knew who he was.  Her favorite times were walking on the beach with the boys collecting sea glass. Barbara shared holidays, vacations to Disneyland and Calistoga, graduations from high school and college and most specially, grandson Zack’s wedding to Jesenia.  Barbara and Donna spent a week in London and were often like 2 peas in a pod.  Barbara’s favorite time was spent with Garrett.  The 2 of them always had a special day together poking around town and having lunch.  She then loved to watch him create a fabulous dinner to share with her.  

Mount San Antonio Gardens was good to her, as she was to it.  She loved living there and enjoyed all the people and activities that it offered.  She is quoted as saying “There are marvelous people here.”   It was a beautiful and comforting place to her. Barbara had a big Garden Party for her 80th birthday.  There must have been at least 80 people that came to C Building to celebrate with her. She loved her apartment that she shared with Smudge and Oona and the precious friends that lived on the campus.  We know Barbara had lots of friends, she received over 60 cards during her short illness and that didn’t include all the well wishes through email.  The family appreciates the outpouring of love, care and concern for her from her friends and the staff during her illness and we know that she did too.  During admission to M-SAG in 1999, she was asked what her expectations were for the future.  Ironically, she answered the following:  “I would hope to live another 15+years in reasonably good health. To be able to continue to travel and experience new things.  To continue to learn.”  Like we said, she was a planner.  And, she did what she planned.  

Words cannot express how much her family will miss Barbara and the void that she has left behind. Her presence will be missed but she will never leave our hearts.  We know that she is in heaven watching us and encouraging us.  We will miss her willingness to join in, her creative talent, her stories, her brains and abilities, and her zooming around in her little red car. We know how much she loved us and how much she was loved. Thank you for sharing in our honoring of Barbara.  She loved life and lived it to the fullest.