Barbara Ann Jones October 12, 1936 - June 12, 2025

Barbara Ann Jones was born to Edwin Henry Norwig and Mary Jane Moore on October 12, 1936 in Buffalo, New York. She lived with her parents until they divorced. After the divorce, Barbara and her sister Audrey lived with their father, their grandmother, and their Aunt Mildred until Edwin remarried. Barbara and Audrey lived with Edwin and his new wife for a year, before being put in foster care. Barbara was in foster care until she was 17.
At 22, Barbara was in nursing school when she met Franklin Kent Jones. They dated for five months before marrying on September 20, 1958 in the LDS chapel on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in Gowanda, New York (though neither were members of the church at the time).
Barbara and Frank soon moved to Riverside, California, where she was baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in December of 1958. She found comfort in its teachings and did her best to treat others as she believed God would want them to be treated. She was a woman of few words, but her actions spoke volumes. She consistently helped the abused, the neglected, the poor, the hungry, and the injured. She might not have gotten her nursing degree, but she nursed people’s spirits and bodies through her countless and
quiet acts of service to those in need.
Barbara and Frank moved back to Buffalo, where they had their four oldest daughters, then moved to Gowanda, New York, where they had their last daughter — their fifth and final child.
Barbara and her family eventually settled in Orem, Utah, and she spent most of her years as a homemaker and a financial provider after her husband got injured on the job. She made ends meet by taking on various jobs throughout the years — nothing was below her. Her resourcefulness and thriftiness fed and clothed her family. She was a hard worker and never complained.
Barbara and Frank divorced later in life while they were empty nesters.
Barbara was an avid reader who enjoyed long trips to the library, loved working in the garden, crocheting, canning anything and everything (with the help of her daughters), and made the most delicious pies around. Her homemade canned pickles were everyone’s favorite. When she and Frank were married, she loved to dance. Her foot would famously flick up at the best times as they effortlessly and seamlessly floated across the dance floor. It was a sight to behold and a time when their children could see their parents at their happiest.
When asked, “What would you like your posterity to know about you?”, here was Barbara’s response:
“That I was honest.”
“That I don’t have any problem with accepting any other ethnic group. It doesn’t bother me at all. I just see them as people, just like me.”
“I don’t know how to express myself well. I’m learning”
“I enjoy all my grandkids and my kids. I like it when you’re all together; the chatter, the camaraderie. You seem to enjoy each other. You’re comfortable in each other’s company. You don’t scrap. I enjoy that you enjoy each other. I think that you have a true love between each other. That’s great. And I like that it’s not only you kids, but the grandkids too. The grandchildren fit in with the adults — all are included.”
Barbara died on June 12, 2025 in Spanish Fork, Utah and was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Audrey Ritoch; her half-brother, William Schamann; her half-sister Geraldine Vargas; and her two grandsons, Chad Curley and Algie Baxter.
She is survived by her half-sister, Carol Zorn; her five daughters — Deborah (Lawrence) Curley, Shirley (Dee) Baxter, Colleen (Mike) Holder, Cheryl (Sarit) Catchatoorian, and Audrey Everett-Baxter; and 14 grandchildren — Brad, Dee, Cortney, Nicole, Danielle, Skyler, Lynzee, Latisha, Kendra, Cassie, Samantha, Isaac, Joshua, Chandler; and many great-grandchildren.
Family and close friends will honor and remember Barbara’s life by gathering for an evening wake on Monday, June 23, 2025 at Walker Funeral Home in Spanish Fork from 6 – 8 p.m., and then again for a graveside service on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at 11 a.m. at Spanish Fork Cemetery.

Barbara Ann Jones Graveside Livestream