Celebrate Barbara Wilson's Life June 19th

Barbara Jean Wilson of Sebastopol, California passed away peacefully in her home on May 25 2010 surrounded by close friends and family after a 14-month battle with breast cancer.

A memorial service and celebration of Barb’s life is scheduled for Saturday, June 19 at 1:30 pm at the Community Church of Sebastopol, 1000 Gravenstein Hwy North. A potluck reception at the Church will follow the service. The family requests any donations in Barbara’s memory be made to: The Ceres Project, The Sierra Club, Heartland Hospice, or The Santa Rosa Center for Spiritual Living. Please RSVP for the memorial service to: http://www.pingg.com/rsvp/3bvmfkqh5itxf4xtb

Barbara was born on May 4, 1956 in San Gabriel, California to Ruth (Williams) and Brenton Wilson, and was one of three children. Survivors include son Graham Goodenough of Sebastopol, daughter Anna Goodenough (Dan) of Petaluma, sister Dianne Wilson (Gary) of Fort Jones, Peggy Potter, and Frank and Elena Lee of Grass Valley, and best friend Anita Graydon of Santa Rosa. Barbara’s brother Tom passed away in 1985. Barbara’s mother Ruth died in 1988 and her father Brent died in 2007.

Barbara’s family moved from Southern California to Etna California in Siskiyou County when she was 10. After graduating from Etna High School in 1974, Barbara moved to South Pasadena to live with Peggy Potter, cousin to Barbara’s mother. Barbara attended California State University of Los Angeles and she received tutoring and support from Peggy’s partner, Addison Potter, while in school. In 1977, Barbara transferred to Scripps College in Claremont California and graduated with honors in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in Modern European History, Phi Beta Kappa.

While at Scripps, Barbara met Jim Goodenough whom she married in 1983. Barbara and Jim have 2 children - Graham born in 1985 and Anna born in 1988. The family lived in 2 homes in Santa Rosa between 1981 and 1991. Barbara and Jim divorced in 1993.

Barbara worked during college at the campus Theatre Box Office and at Disneyland’s “Club 33”. After graduation, she moved to Mountain View in the San Francisco Bay Area and was a product manager at Racal Vadic. Barbara then moved to Santa Rosa and continued her work as a product manager at LaserCraft.

In 2004, Barbara moved to Sebastopol and lived at Two Acre Wood Cohousing for several years before finding and moving to her beloved “treehouse” off of Lynch Road. During her time in Sebastopol, she was a founding member of the Global Heart Spiritual Center in Santa Rosa and became a licensed Science of Mind practitioner in 2007. In her last several years in Sebastopol, Barbara developed a very successful business, Creative Insurance Solutions. She was admired by her clients for her personal and creative attention to their health insurance needs and her limitless energy for her chosen profession.

Barbara enjoyed close friends, golf, backpacking, tennis, baseball, books and reading, kayaking and road trips. She was also interested in and active in local politics. Above all, Barbara enjoyed raising and hanging out with her loving children.

In March of 2009, Barbara was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She never lost her love of life during her illness.
Anita, Graham and Anna as well as a large circle of friends were very close companions and caregivers during her final 14 months.

A memorial service and celebration of Barb’s life is scheduled for Saturday, June 19 at 1:30 pm at the Community Church of Sebastopol, 1000 Gravenstein Hwy North. A potluck reception at the Church will follow the service. The family requests any donations in Barbara’s memory be made to: The Ceres Project, The Sierra Club, Heartland Hospice, or The Santa Rosa Center for Spiritual Living.