Barbara Miller Lyon passed peacefully from this life on September 30, 2011. She was born November 21, 1918 in Chippewa Falls, WI, the first of five children to Mr. Arthur and Gladys Miller of Cornell, WI. Upon graduating from high school, she attended two years of college at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. The summer between her freshman and sophomore years, she worked as a chamber maid at the Lodge at Yellowstone National Park where she met Charles G. Lyon Jr. (Chuck) who worked there as a park ranger prior to completing his final year in pharmacy school at Kansas University. They were married in July of 1939 in Basin, Wyoming. Chuck was the son of Charles Gardiner Sr. and Lillian Lyon of Coldwater, former owner of the Coldwater Ford Dealership and garage.

Barbara and Chuck eventually settled in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in 1941 where they acquired a drugstore and oversaw its operations for the next twenty-plus years. In that interim, they raised three boys: Charles Rich (1940), Jon Gardiner (1945), and Kent Miller (1950). Throughout those Steamboat Springs years, Barb dedicated herself to motherhood and was a prolific reader and hiker of nearby U.S. forest trails. In 1964, Barb and Charles relocated to Boulder, CO where Barbara returned to college at the University of Colorado and completed a degree in Elementary Education. She never taught, but elected to work along side Chuck in a Hallmark Card and Gift store they purchased near the campus of the University of Denver. Barb specialized in the accounting and marketing sides of that business but a sizable number of the store’s faithful clientele frequently dropped in to chat and garner her counsel, a social and personal attribute sought by many throughout her life.

Barb and Chuck cooperatively ran that business until 1984, retiring to Coldwater, where Chuck had been raised. They began by renovating Chuck’s boyhood home, stripping it to the studs and adding a larger kitchen, upstairs and double garage. Little did they know that Charles’ longevity was to be short-lived, dying unexpectedly in April of 1988. Barb initially gave thought to relocating to Colorado or Wisconsin but the constancy and embracing attitude of the community of Coldwater, and more particularly her church family at the First Presbyterian Church, lead her to choose this setting for her remaining twenty-plus years. She often remarked in later life, ”I’ve felt more ‘at home‘ in this house and community than anywhere I ever lived! This IS my home!” Born of a German father and a Norwegian mother, she sported more of her father’s qualities: fastidious about home and yard, opinionated and perhaps a bit “outspoken” at times but ultimately focused on trying to be honest, fair and kind to all.

Barb is survived by Jon Gardiner Lyon and Marge Blanc of Madison, WI; Matthew, Katie and Laura Lyon of Denver/Boulder, CO; Sandon, Chris and Maria Lyon of Corpus Christi, TX; Bill and Rita Miller of Moran, WY; Jeanne Gitlin of Round Rock, TX and Susan George Barnett of Broomfield, CO. She was preceded in death by her husband Charles Jr. Lyon, two sons Charles Rich Lyon and Kent Miller Lyon and two sisters Sally Carlson and Jane Sturgeon.

A memorial celebration of Barb’s life will be held in the sanctuary of the former First Presbyterian Church of Coldwater at 11:00 a.m., Friday, October 7, 2011, with Rev. Jay Ayers presiding.

In lieu of a memorial donation or flowers and at a time when many families are suffering financially, we ask that you continue to support those causes that matter most to you in life. Should you especially seek a charity to whom to donate in her behalf, we’d recommend South Wind Hospice of Pratt. In concert with who she was, the foremost gift you might offer would be to ascribe to her often cited motto, “be honest and kind to all.”

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