Margie Ann Mefford Barson, 77, passed away Tuesday, August 4, 2015 at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, from injuries she sustained in an automobile accident 9 days earlier.
She was born July 21, 1938 in Tulare, California to Barbara Christensen and Dwight Moody Mefford. She has one sister, Toni Mefford. Her father was a pilot. She moved numerous times from Tulare, to San Diego, then eventually to Sacramento after her parents divorced when she was 12 years old. Her father remarried adding a step-mother, Esther, and two half-brothers, Mitch and Jeff Mefford. In her later youth, she spent some summers in Inglewood, California with her grandparents, Clem and Alta Christensen. Alta was lovingly known as "Banny."
Margie met F. Kennard Barson while attending Brigham Young University. She waited for him while he served a two year mission to England, then married him six weeks after his return on September 17, 1960 in the LDS Los Angeles Temple. This September would have been their 55th wedding anniversary.
While attending Brigham Young University, she studied Human Development and Family Relations. As a senior with one semester left, she put her education on hold and began to raise a family. Her life-long dream was to finish her Bachelor's degree. Her education blessed her in rearing her family. She lovingly invited others into her home, including a young foster daughter, Fiona, for several years, a Lamanite student, Nora, for 1 Ω years of junior high school, and an exchange student Euridice Rios, from Caracas, Venezuela for her senior year of high school.
She was blessed to be a stay-at-home while raising most of her family, which she was grateful for. Her greatest joy in life was teaching her children the gospel of Jesus Christ and spending time with them in any capacity. She had a special gift of using what she had to make things look beautiful. She could make any space feel and look comfortable, no matter where she was. When she traveled, the first thing she did was buy flowers to brighten up the living space. She added special touches to everything and everywhere she went.
Salt Lake City has been their home for the past 50 years, but Ken and Margie loved to travel. They traveled to the Orient, including Guam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Iceland, Greenland, Ireland, China, Russia, France, Israel, several countries in Africa, Mexico, Caribbean, South America, and many places in the United States, including Hawaii. As the children left home, they traveled more often. She especially loved warm, sunny beaches—she was a California girl.
She loved the wedding cake filling that her grandmother made, and continued to make it for her family. She always made fudge, butterscotch Chinese noodle candy and homemade caramels at Christmas time which has become a family tradition. Her family loved her eggs, cheese and peas on toast that she often made when the family was together.
She loved BYU football, peppermint patties, Snicker's bars, and plain old vanilla ice cream. She used butter like it was frosting and always had a private stash of chocolate hidden somewhere!
Her hobbies included reading, sewing, knitting, crocheting, doing hand work and crafts, drawing, and playing the piano. She played the cello when she was younger.
She was a very faithful and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served diligently in every auxiliary of the church. She was still in contact with some of the young women she worked with more than 45 years ago. She was also very involved in family history and indexing.
She spent the fall months making jam, canning, preserving food, and cutting up deer, elk, antelope--any game the family would bring home. She was a successful hunter herself and enjoyed hunting trips with the family.
She showed such unconditional love and was a great listener, teacher, and shared her testimony through her words of wisdom and example. She was an extremely kind and giving person. She loved tending her grandchildren and they were the recipients of her great generosity and thoughtfulness. She absolutely loved being surrounded by family, playing games, and would laugh until she cried.
She was a public notary, had her real estate license, insurance license, and Series 7 security license. She was also a stenographer and worked as an executive secretary for many years.
She is survived by her husband of 55 years Ken Barson, children Tamara (Randy) Munn of Prosser, WA, Shellie Barson, Brad (Amy) Barson of Enoch, UT, Stacie Campbell of Kanosh, UT, Brian (Shirley) Barson of Duchesne, UT and Kimberly (Cliff) Gibson; 29 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren, sister Toni Mefford, brothers Mitch (Kristi) Mefford and Jeff (Denise) Mefford. She is preceded in death by her mother and father.
A public viewing will be held at the Cottonwood 1st Ward, 5913 S. Highland Drive, on Sunday evening, August 9th, from 6-8 pm, and Monday, August 10th, from 9:30-10:40am. The funeral will be Monday also at the ward, August 10th at 11 am, with internment at 3 pm in the Clarkston Utah Cemetery.
