Obituary of Barbara Barreau

Barbara Anne Barreau passed away on April 5th, 2015. She was 78. Barbara was born in Manilla, Iowa, on February 11, 1937, to Arnold and Margaret Joens. Later the family moved to Moline Illinois, where two siblings, Roger and Beverly, were born. In 1955, another move took the family to California. Barbara married Richard Guertin in 1958. Bruce, Brian and Sharon completed their beautiful family. They moved to Oregon in 1969, first to Camas Valley and then to Melrose. Barbara worked as a real estate agent for a few years in the Roseburg area. She and Richard later divorced. Barbara moved to Eugene in 1980, where she lived ever since.She worked for several years at, what was then, the Eugene Clinic.In 1991, Barbara met and married a wonderful man, Ben Barreau. With Ben, her family grew to include his son Barry, daughter Chris and many grandchildren. She also developed an entirely new interest and pastime through Ben's passion of fishing and camping. The two of them seemed to become one with the rivers and lakes. Ben preceded her in death, passing away March 5, 2006.Nothing gave Barbara greater joy than spending time with her 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Pajama/movie nights were part of the fun that some of the local grandkids had with Grandma Barbara. She also visited her grandkids in Chicago at least once a year until traveling became too difficult. She loved her iPad and used it constantly to keep in touch with family and friends who were so important to her. Knitting became a favorite pastime, especially during the many times her sister Bev visited from Minnesota.In 1996, Barbara became actively involved with ?Friends of Bill W? and was completely devoted to this endeavor.Her service and work with this organization defined her and gave tremendous meaning to her life.Barbara is survived by her sister Beverly McLaren, children Bruce Guertin, Brian Guertin, Sharon (Guertin) Rettino and her husband Tony, step-children Chris Kruse and Barry Barreau, grandchildren Matthew Barreau, Eric Kruse, Michael Kruse, Karin Barreau, Amy (Barreau) Christensen, Nicholas Rettino, Maggie Barreau, Marc Rettino, Alex Barreau, Becca Barreau, Isabel Rettino and great grandchildren Nicole Kruse, Emma Myers and Sequoia Bakkum-Kruse.A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 16th, at 1:30pm at the Lewis & Clark Catering Co. located at 2210 MLK, Jr. Blvd. in Eugene. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Eugene Teen Challenge.Arrangements entrusted to West Lawn Memorial Funeral Home. You are invited to sign the guestbook and access the obituary at musgroves.com.