Barbara Lindberg

Barbara Nalder Lindberg passed away peacefully at her home in South Jordan, Utah on August 14, 2024, at the age of 98. She was born Friday, July 23rd, 1926, in Raymond, Alberta, Canada. She was the second child and oldest daughter of Eulala Rowley Wilcock and Clifton Olin Nalder.

As a child, her family faced many challenges. Early on, Barbara had digestive issues and was not expected to live. Her mother said there was nothing she could eat, and the doctor could not do anything for her. Eulala had great faith in the priesthood, so she arranged for Barbara to receive a priesthood blessing after which her health was restored.

Her older brother, William (Bill), contracted rheumatic fever which left him with a serious heart condition. Her brother Alan had osteomyelitis, an infection in the bone, which required several hospitalizations and surgeries. Her youngest brother, Sherwin, lost fingers due to a mishap with a washing machine, but from these challenges she learned about serving others, which she did as long as she was able.

The family was sealed in the Cardston Temple on June 21st, 1933, prior to the birth of the youngest child, Marie.

As a child, she lived next door to her Grandmother and Grandfather Nalder. The kids often rode Grandpa Nalder’s horse, Brownie, to school. Barbara was devastated when Grandpa passed away when she was 8. School was a challenge for her. Since Raymond was a small farming community, they didn’t have separate classes for each grade, so she ended up having the same teacher, that she didn’t like, for multiple years, yet during that time, she made lifelong friends that she stayed in touch with for decades.

After graduating from high school, she went to Calgary to take a comptometer course so she could get a job at the Raymond sugar factory. She got the job at the sugar factory but the job only lasted six weeks. After helping her mother recover from surgery, she returned to Calgary for more education. Many of her roommates moved to Utah to attend BYU or to get married, so she decided to move to Provo, but she couldn’t find work there, so she moved to Salt Lake City where she got a job with Conoco Oil.

Eventually, she put in her mission papers and was called to serve in the Central Atlantic States mission in 1952, which is where she met her eternal companion, Richard Taylor Lindberg. At that time, sister missionaries were much less common than they are now. Dick completed his mission first and was then drafted into the Army. Dick and Barbara corresponded for 16 months. She met up with him again in Tacoma, WA where he was stationed during basic training. In November 1954, Dick was discharged and he proposed to Barbara on Christmas Eve. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 20, 1955, and have spent nearly 70 years together.

Family has always been important to Barbara. Making trips back to Canada as often as she could allowed her to remain connected with her father and siblings although she has deeply missed contact with her mother who died in 1963 when Barbara was just 36 years old.

She mastered the art of letter writing and as often as she was allowed, she made long distance calls during a time when they were very expensive and no cellphones were available; however, she was grateful for the opportunity to connect with aunts, uncles and cousins when she moved to Utah since both her parents were born here. Family reunions were a summer staple. She was proud of her pioneer heritage and thoroughly enjoyed being a member of the Gale City Camp of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP)

Barbara and Dick raised five children: Kathleen, Stephen, Carol, Craig and Bruce. They have a large posterity of 20 grandchildren and 50 great grandchildren that have been recipients of their generosity and witnesses of their faithfulness.

Throughout her life, Barbara was a faithful and active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served in the Primary and Relief Society Presidencies along with many other callings. As ward librarian, she spent many hours coloring and cutting out materials to get them ready for ward members. Extraction, which was the precursor to indexing where she would look at records on microfilm and write the names onto punch cards so they could be entered in the computer for use in family history research, was another calling to which she devoted many hours.

Alongside Dick, she served an inner-city service mission working with the saints in the Cannon 1st Ward in Salt Lake City. Residents of Silverado, a dementia care facility, were also recipients of her service for many years.

Each time someone visited, Barbara always wanted to make sure they had something to eat, which became difficult in her later years, but she would still offer. Holding babies was one of her favorite activities.

After 98 years and 22 days, she returned to her Heavenly Father. The celebration on the other side of the veil must have been joyful as the reunion of Clifton and Eulala’s family is now complete.

The family wants to thank Intermountain Hospice and Inspiration Hospice nurses and aides for their kindness and care.

A viewing will be held on Friday, August 23, 2024, from 10:00 to 10:45 am at the River Ridge 1st Ward located at 10124 South 1300 West, South Jordan, Utah. Funeral services will follow at 11:00 am.