July 7, 1953 ~ August 16, 2021
Early on August 16, 2021, Barbara Jean Lopes passed away peacefully in her sleep from a silent heart attack at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, CA. She was 68 years old.
Barbara was born at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose, CA, on July 7, 1953 at 11pm. In 1956, the family moved from Santa Clara to Menlo Park where Barbara’s father Ernest transferred from the Railway Post Office to the new Menlo Park Post Office. Barbara went to Garfield School in Menlo Park through 6th grade, and then to Hoover Middle School in Redwood City for 2 years. She attended Menlo-Atherton High School – Class of 1971. She read music, learned the flute, and loved The Beatles, and The Everly Brothers – Phil & Don. Don passed on August 22, 2021.
Barbara was a mechanical technician in the defense electronics and aerospace industries for Watkins-Johnson, Hewlett-Packard, and Raychem.
Barbara was with animals from an early age. From a cocker spaniel, rabbits, and a Japanese Akita dog, Barbara had cats, chickens, parrots, a boa snake, and a goat. In Red Bluff there were wild deer, turkeys, feral pigs, and neighbor’s cows roaming on 23 acres. She was truly an animal whisperer.
Her mother Eloise Josephine Lopes in 1978; and her father Ernest Faria Lopes in 1988, preceded Barbara in death. She is survived by her brother Kenneth Charles Lopes, and family; her sister Kathy Marie (Lopes) Root, Allen, and family; her sister Patricia Anne (Lopes) Hofmeister, Mark; and long time companion Joseph Besana II.
In a private ceremony in April of 2022, Barbara was laid to rest in peace forever near her mother and father at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California.
Blair’s Direct Cremation and Burial Service, Inc. in Red Bluff, California, provided cremation services.
Please make an Honor Gift Card to ASPCA for animals in the name of Barbara Jean Lopes at https://secure.aspca.org/donate/ps-honor-sl-p1