Barbara Brasby

Barbara Ruth Smith Brasby graduated from this Earth and entered her heavenly home on March 6, 2024. She passed away peacefully in Fort Morgan at Valley View Villa Care Center with family. She was a resident of Haxtun for 22 years.

Barb was born Sept. 2,1932 on Nantucket Island, Mass., to Irene May Beamish and Albert Walter Judd Smith. Within weeks, Albert left the family. When Barb was seven, Irene remarried Willard Edson Nickerson, who fully became Barb's loving dad. 

Barb met her sweetheart Henry "Hank" when she was 17, and still in school, at a movie intermission where they each had come with someone else. The Coast Guard stationed Hank at Brant Point Station Lighthouse on Nantucket Island. For months, a mystery girl he'd observed riding around the island on a bicycle had intrigued Hank. Barb, who worked at the bicycle rental shop on Steamship Wharf where the Ferry Boat passengers arrived, was that mystery girl. 

The two dated on weekends till Barb graduated. They biked around the island and fell in love, talking for hours on the long boardwalk leading to the lighthouse. Barb had never been off Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard Islands since birth until after graduation. Barb and Hank married on July 28, 1952 in Little Compton, R.I. They enjoyed 67 fulfilling years of marriage, 18 years of it in New England, the remaining in Colorado. They raised two daughters and six sons.

She was a brilliant baker, cook and dedicated, committed, wife, mother and homemaker. When her children and grandchildren walked through the door, no matter what time of day, they experienced "The-Mom-Effect." Her home (even one small crowded home) was always warm, joyful, peaceful and smelled of homemade food regularly. If a child had a tough day, she was there with a hug. She nurtured and guided her family and made meals with love. The essence of her motherhood will endure as a legacy to be passed down for generations to come.

Barb was always thinking of others and involved her children in baking, either for her family or to give to others. She was a dedicated letter writer to her children when they grew up. She was capable and excellent at running a large family and household of 10. One of her favorite desserts was homemade goats' milk ice cream from goats she often milked herself. Her favorite flavors were vanilla Grape Nuts ice cream and red raspberry (which grew on their New Hampshire farm). She was very conscious of nutrition and even managed a health food store in Colorado for a year.

Barbara (and nine of 10 family members who lived in New England) hiked the 44 mountains over 4,000 feet above sea level. That qualified her to join the Appalachian Mountain 4,000 Footer Club, quite a feat and distinction. In 1969, the family hiked Doublehead Mountain in Jackson, N.H. for Thanksgiving, then again Christmas through New Year's Day. Barb cooked and baked all meals from scratch in a small, snow-covered cabin. Using a small wood cookstove, She made homemade bread, pies, meatloaf, apple fritters and spaghetti. 

Barb and Hank accepted Christ as their Savior in 1982 in Lake City and always remained faithful. Together, they served as Chaplain and Head Cook at Union Rescue Mission in Wichita, Kan., for two years in the 1990s. 

Barbara was a kind, creative woman who was hardy, protective, happy and humble. She cooked large delicious meals on a shoe-string budget and was always hard-working, even when she suffered six months a year with severe pollen allergies.

She is survived by her children Bill (Dulce), Mary Huddlestone, Kathy Brasby (Matt), Mark (Pam), Chris, Tom (Julianne), Paul (Sherri), and Cathy Powell (Walter); along with 27 grandchildren, 49 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.  

She is preceded in death by her parents; siblings Edwin and Arlene; husband Hank; daughters-in-law Mona, Ethel and Ella; great-great-grandson Ian Galloway, son-in-law Ralph Huddlestone; and son Matt, preceded her in death.

A graduation celebration (funeral service) was held March 11 at Immanuel Evangelical Church in Fort Morgan. A private interment, in a casket built by several sons and grandsons, will be at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, with her husband.