Barbara Ellen Parsons Bernstein

Barbara grew up in stunning Hood River, Oregon, and a part of her always longed to return to that idyllic place. She made the most of her lengthy life in Utah, however, as an educator, journalist, editor, librarian, girl scout leader, urban tree committee member, foster care advocate, coffee curmudgeon, and bon vivant.

While studying English and journalism at Utah State University, friends introduced Barbara to a very tall, intriguing, history graduate student named Jerome Bernstein. She always told her children that she heard them call to her from the future saying, “Pick this one mama!” And so, she did. The two made a handsome pair with well-matched wit and intellect. They were excellent, attentive, fascinating, and loving parents to their biological, adopted, foster, borrowed, lent, and stray children. They taught us to be curious, unafraid, and appreciative and to be kind to all creatures whether human, feathered, furred, gelatinous, carapaced, or scaled.

Soon after Jerry died in 1990, Barbara took on a new role of grandparent and made it her sacred duty to teach this next generation the family lore and traditions. Her grandchildren have hundreds of tales of exciting expeditions they took with her on the open road to the back of beyond, including annual forays to the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering and vacations to Oregon, Arizona, New Jersey, Lehman Caves, and Hoover Dam. The children also experienced more than a few compelling misadventures with their grandma and remember those times with fondness as well.

Rainbows took lessons from Barbara on how to put a colorful ensemble together. Her multi-hued outfits delighted friends and strangers alike. She carried her penchant for rich pigments into her fanciful handiwork including embroidering original renditions of real and mythical creatures and crocheting curiously-shaped hats and surprising soft sculptures.

Barbara both inspired people with her eloquence and reduced them to guffawing puddles of mirth with her keen sense of humor. Many people admitted that she made them laugh so hard they wet their pants. She molded every day into a celebration or an adventure. Her outings commonly started with a statement like, “Let’s drive 100 miles south and then take every left turn and see where we end up.”

In these last several years she allowed her eldest child to take the lead on guiding the adventures and celebrations. The pair visited Antelope Island every week. They regularly journeyed to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Cache Valley, and Spiral Jetty. They watched the sunset together nearly every night from a Skyline Drive vista. They made special trips to dark sky areas to observe aurora borealis, meteor showers, lunar and solar eclipses, full blood moons, planetary alignments, and the comets NEOWISE and Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. They explored ghost towns, sought out ancient rock imagery, and camped at Goosenecks, Fremont Indian, Wasatch Mountain, and East Canyon State Parks.

Barbara was preceded in death by her husband Jerome Bernstein, her granddaughter Trilby Jane Bernstein, and scores of precious pets. She is survived by her daughter Justina Parsons-Bernstein, son Duncan Bernstein (Maryann), daughter Barbara Janice Bernstein (Lou), Granddaughters Mariah Yazzie and Whitney Bernstein, grandson Rome Bernstein, great grandson Carter Yazzie, great granddaughters Bexley Jones and Hadley Yazzie, sister Dorothy Marx, numerous nieces and their kin, all her children’s friends who claimed Barbara as an additional mother, and her last cat, Pssskatawatamee.

Barbara has not let death stop her from teaching. She is now a “Professor of Anatomy.” She bequeathed her body to science and will be instructing medical students about the resilience and betrayals of the human body for years to come.

In lieu of flowers, please follow Barbara’s example of how to lead a meaningful life. Help beautiful things grow and thrive. Provide an interesting and loving home for a child or an animal, or, hopefully, both. Listen to people with your full attention. Defend those who cannot defend themselves. Speak out against injustice. Extend kindness to everyone.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Barbara in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Our family’s hearts shattered when Barbara’s heart stopped beating. We do not know exactly how to carry on in a world that does not have her beautiful, witty, intelligent, compassionate, stubborn presence in it.

We hope she takes every left turn on this latest journey and then waits for us. We will see where we end up.