Barbara Louise Carnefix
Aug. 27, 1913 - May 19, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:05 AM PDT
Fruitland
Barbara Louise Carnefix, longtime resident of Fruitland, Idaho, passed away May 19, 2009, in Southern California, surrounded by family. She was 95.
Barbara was born Aug. 27, 1913, in Buhl, Idaho, the only child of John and Clara Schmidt. She attended grade school in Parma, Idaho, high school in Grants Pass, Ore., and she graduated from the University of Idaho.
In 1937 she met Wendell Carnefix, who was working as a potato inspector. They married and lived in Weiser, Idaho, before moving to Fruitland. When Wendell began a government-landscaping job in Bremerton, Wash., in 1941, a job lasting several years, she moved her family to Seattle, Wash., to be with him.
The family resettled in Fruitland in 1944, and Barbara became the bookkeeper for the Fruitland Nursery. She helped begin the school lunch program in Fruitland, was active in the PTA, participated in 4-H, was a member of Eastern Star and a charter member of AAUW in the area. She was honored one year with an AAUW scholarship given in her name. She faithfully attended St. James Episcopal Church in Payette.
Barbara always valued education, and, once her girls were in school, she got her teacher’s certificate and taught business in several local high schools. She joined the teachers sorority Alpha Delta Kappa. As hobbies, she enjoyed doing stained glass, painting and going to painting workshops, photography (she set up her own dark room), crocheting, knitting and other crafts. Later in life, she joined two bowling teams, several bridge groups and did water aerobics in Ontario.
She loved to travel and took each of her grandchildren on special trips. She maintained her lively curiosity about the world — at 91 she took two trips to France with her daughters. She was always there for important family events, even in her 90s — weddings, graduations and recitals, wherever her daughters or grandchildren were living, New Jersey, California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, England and Colombia.
She stayed involved and interested in life — e-mailing and using her computer, meeting new people, reading, knitting, attending luncheons, playing bridge and canasta and getting together with friends and family. She was a creative and unique person with an indomitable spirit. She made an impact on all she met. She is missed by her family and friends.
Barbara is survived by her four daughters, Christine Thomas, and her husband, John, Joan Torres, and her husband, Bill, Sue Kupillas and Barbara MacLean; eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Wendell Carnefix; and her granddaughter, Jennifer Thomas Brown.
A memorial service and celebration of her life will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, at St. James Episcopal Church, 110 N. 10th St., Payette, Idaho. A luncheon reception will immediately follow the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to THE BARBARA L. CARNEFIX SCHOLARSHIP, IDAHO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, 210 W. State St., Boise, ID 83702.
