A small-town New York girl, Barbara (Colangelo) Widman traveled the world before moving to Blossom Grove, Redlands’ premiere Alzheimers Care Center. Barbara was born in Buffalo, NY, during the Great Depression. When she was eight years old her dad died in a construction accident. After his death Barbara’s mom moved the family to Batavia, a small town about 50 miles east of Buffalo. That’s where Barbara grew up.
During her years in Batavia Barbara became a skilled skater, and after graduating from Batavia High School she joined Skating Vanities, a roller-skating show that performed in large civic arenas throughout the eastern United States and Canada.
The Pinwheel was one of the most popular Skating Vanities acts. In it the entire cast joins arms in a line, then begins to spin, with the strongest skater at the end. As the line gets longer and rotates faster, the skater at the end of the line must skate faster and faster...and hang on for dear life. A slip could send her flying out of control into the audience with serious injuries. Barbara was that skater.
After two years with Skating Vanities, Barbara married Bill Eyre, a high-school boyfriend, and the couple moved to Orange County in southern California, where they had five children: The Eyres’ marriage ended in 1975. At this writing, Barbara’s family has grown to include eight grandchildren and, at last count, 16 great-grandchildren.
Barbara’s children were young when a church in Orange County reached out to the family, and Barbara received Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and Lord. That commitment shaped the rest of her life. She hosted a large children’s Bible club in her home, which brought her to the attention of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), national sponsor of the clubs. During the difficult transition to single-mom life, Barbara worked briefly for CEF. She then moved on to work with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), an international air service then headquartered in Fullerton. MAF provides air transportation for Christian missions and other humanitarian organizations in remote areas of the world. Barbara helped to raise funds to support the non-profit’s ministry.
When MAF moved from Fullerton to Redlands, Barbara moved with it. As manager of MAF’s fundraising dinner program, Barbara managed dinners for up to 400 people at hotels throughout the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.
While working at MAF, Barbara met Ron Widman, who like Barbara had been alone for ten years. Ron provided print communication services for Christian organizations like MAF. One day, as she was leaving a management meeting that included Ron, she glanced up at him and said “Gee, you’re cute!” In Ron’s words, that required “further research,” and after several months of dating they were married in 1984.
Ron’s clients included several international Christian mission organizations like MAF. In the next few years Barbara and Ron traveled in Central and South America, southern Asia, Indonesia, the Middle East, eastern and southern Africa, and Europe, mostly to gather stories and photos for their work with MAF and Ron’s other clients.
In 1989 Barbara moved from Mission Aviation to the University of Redlands, where she worked in the Campus Affairs office and the Armacost Library. Popular among the University’s staff, she was elected president of the Staff Organization before she retired from the University in 1998.
Barbara and Ron lived in Redlands for nearly 30 years before moving to a seniors community in nearby Beaumont. In 2018 Barbara’s Alzheimer’s disease made it necessary for her to move to Blossom Grove, the memory care center in Redlands. “It was a great comfort to me,” recalls Ron, “to know that Barbara would have the kind of security and skilled care at Blossom Grove that I couldn’t give her at home.”
Barbara especially enjoys the socialization and activities at Blossom Grove. She’s a special favorite with the attentive Blossom Grove staff, who care for some 40 residents with room for more.
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