Barbara Jean (Saari) Hartley

BARBARA JEAN SAARI HARTLEY

On the beautiful spring morning of April 8, 2021, our beloved mother, Barbara, age 79, peacefully departed from this life at the Good Samaritan Prairie Ridge in Raymond, Alberta. Barbara was born October 14, 1941 to Albert & Ruth Saari in Alameda, California, and was raised in the San Francisco Bay area. Her three siblings, Sandra, Albert, and Vicki, all joined their family in the following three and a half years.

After graduating from high school and spending a few years at BYU, this California big-city girl met and married a small-town country farmer and relocated to a new life on the Canadian Prairies. The transition from single city life to married farm wife was difficult, but Barbara dedicated herself to raising her children and contributing to the farm, and found great joy and fulfillment in the life she built. She used the skills and values taught to her growing up to create a home focused on hard work and the Savior.

Come joy and hardships, she always centered her life on her testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and raising a family with the goal of returning to our Heavenly Father. Barbara fulfilled her sacred calling as a wife and mother by continually supporting and serving her husband and children. In addition to planting and harvesting the crops for the farm, she sowed seeds of faith in the hearts of her children and nurtured them with love and by example. Barbara knew how to work and taught her kids from an early age to pitch in and “get the job done”. She made sure her children actively participated in gardening, harvesting and processing fruit and vegetables, maintaining a beautiful yard and multiple flower beds, and keeping the house clean and orderly. Through these skills and tasks she taught us to earn the satisfaction and fulfillment of a “job well done”. In addition to teaching her children the importance of hard work, she also taught many Mexican Mennonite children to read and tutored them in math. She taught English to Mexican Mennonite women, worked with a local literacy program, and always encouraged each of her children to further their education. She continually looked to deepen her own education, and did so by reading classics and literature on political theories, the gospel, gardening, and family matters.

Barbara enjoyed serving others in her community through a variety of roles and organizations. Throughout her years living in Stirling, she was an active member of the Amistead Club and the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. She also served in church callings, including Relief Society President, Primary President, Sunday School teacher, and a variety of stake callings. She especially loved the primary children she taught during her years as a Primary Teacher.

We dearly love and miss our mother and grandmother, but know she has found joy and peace, and a well-earned break, with our Father in Heaven.

Barbara is survived by her beloved husband of 57 years, Burton G. Hartley and their six children: Brenda (Douglas) Sheen, Cardston, AB; Elizabeth (Todd) Nelson, Stirling, AB; Wendy (Robert) Mylroie, Hayden, ID; Christine (John) McKee, Stirling, AB; Margaret (Keith) Richards, Mount Horeb, WI; and Paul Hartley, Stirling, AB. She also has 27 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister Sandra Hansen (American Fork, UT) and brother Albert Saari (Highland, UT). Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Albert Henry Saari and Ruth Whitelock Brighton, and her sister, Victoria Evelyn Peterson.

Family and Friends are able to pay their respects on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 from 10 – 11 AM at the farm. Private funeral services will be held, after which, a recording will be available at the bottom of this obituary.

Click here to view a Recording of the Service

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Barbara Jean (Saari) Hartley, please visit our floral store.