Barbara Jean Dalton
November 11, 1934 – June 7, 2016
Sharing by Christina and Audrey Peterman
Hello everyone, my name is Christina Peterman, and I am the middle grandchild of Barbara (or Barbs, as we fondly referred to her). In fact we had a whole slew of nicknames for her, including Barbarito, Barb-a-loosie-toosie, and most recently, simply GB).
And my name is Audrey. I am her youngest grandchild.
Barbs loved her grandchildren -- that was always evident to us. She spent every moment she could with us, and constantly encouraged us to come over to her house, especially when we were younger. I know I speak for all seven of us when I say that we have nothing but the fondest memories of our time at GB’s house. She was always willing to participate in a game of dress up, a special favorite of all of ours being Peter Pan.
She also always had a pantry full of sweet treats (what we most looked forward to at Barb’s house). She spoiled us with Oreos and Dr. Pepper, items that were rarely available at our own house. Grandma loved treats. When she picked Michelle and Chris up from school she was always willing to get them ice cream. And when she lived with my family, I will admit we used her love of treats for our own gain. All it took to convince Mom to buy us a treat was to tell her that GB wanted it-- and GB was always willing to tell Mom she did want it, even if she didn’t.
One of Grandma’s other favorite activities for us when we came over was to watch movies. GB loved movies, and over the years we’ve been “forced” to watch many real winners--including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cyber Chase, and a 10-hour documentary on Moses. More recently, when she lived with us, we would wake up at 1 am hearing her loud Netflix, and it was always interesting to hear what she was watching, as it differed by the day. Sometimes it would be Masses, talks on EWTN, and occasionally the history channel or black and white Russian movies. Grandma loved mystery shows, and those were what she had on most often. In the evenings, we enjoyed piling into her room to watch the mystery shows with her, and even though she’d seen every Hercule Poirot, she watched them again with us because they were our favorite (and she only spoiled the ending half the time). She did soon get tired of us interrupting the movie every 5 minutes to get a snack, so she eventually laid down the law with a list of strict rules including: no leaving to go to the bathroom, no sneezing on the floor, and no getting up to get snacks.
When we were with her she was always cracking us up. One never knew what to expect with GB, as conversations with her ranged from her picking out all our husbands to refusing to give Audrey a donut from her beloved hidden stash. That was one of Barbs’ greatest qualities--bringing joy, light and laughter to any situation. It is quite the understatement to say that she was extroverted as she could make anyone feel comfortable, even a group of strangers in her hospital waiting room. She loved to talk and always had something to say or a story to tell.
As any person in our family could testify to, we were often regaled with stories of distant relatives; she was our family historian. And we all had our favorites of the stories that she would tell over and over again, such as when she stood up the pig farmer who asked her out. In an attempt to engage us in her story telling she organized Chatpack for holiday events, which were cards that had questions for everyone to answer. That was just one of the things GB ordered off her catalogues. There’s no one who was better at catalogue shopping than Barbs.
One thing that always stood out to me was Grandma’s excellent sense of style. She always had carefully picked out outfits in different coordinating shades of her favorite pastel: be it pink, blue or purple. These outfits were always accompanied by coordinating jewelry, cardigans and even shoes. She refused to leave the house without putting on her lips or her eyebrows and a couple of Kleenex up her sleeve, just in case. She loved to tell us what colors went best with our skin tones and giving us fashion and makeup advice.
Her eye for color served her best when she was engaged in one of the many artistic activities she loved. She not only loved to paint and draw, she was amazing at both. Her paintings hang in almost every room of our house and she would color elaborate patterns and designs in her coloring books as she watched her Netflix. When we were younger, she used to sew us all elaborate Halloween costumes (oh wait, All Saint’s Day costumes).
Grandma was also very devout, as was evident to all those who knew her. She had a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, with statues of Mary all over her house (most of which moved into her room in our house- even if only a couple of them should realistically have fit). She always had EWTN or Masses on her TV, and one of her favorite stories is one time when she had Mass on and the church bells were ringing and our mom came running to her room, thinking grandma was ringing the hand bell by her bed that signaled she needed something. GB also loved telling all her Medjugorje stories and showing all the things she had brought back from there.
Each one of us here today was touched in a special way by Barbara, was given an immense gift in knowing her. Barbs had a magnetic force around her. Her presence filled up a room in the best of ways. Even to the very end, she displayed only a positive and joyful energy that was contagious to all those around her. She was sassy and hilarious, and that, coupled with her head strong and independent personality, made her one of my greatest role models. She wasn’t afraid to ask for what she wanted, and knew how to expect from everyone what she deserved.
But she was also selfless; she loved to be able to give, which was something that made her such an excellent gift-giver. Her virtue and devotion to God were impressive and evident to all those that knew her, and is one of the reasons why I know that she’s up in Heaven right now, looking down on all of us here today. So now is our chance to thank her. To thank the woman who brought into each of our lives so many years of joy and love, so many days of thoughtful service, and so many moments of laughter (because there were quite a few). So thank you, GB, because you have not only touched the life of every person here, you have improved them.