Barbara Louise Simpson

A memorial service for Barbara Louise Simpson 82, of Chico, California will be held on Saturday, January 17, 2015, 11 a.m. at the Evangelical Free Church, 1193 Filbert Avenue in Chico. Barbara will be laid to rest at Gridley-Biggs Cemetery in Gridley, California. Barbara passed away on Monday, December 22, 2014 at Riverside Pointe in Chico. She was born in Chico to Roy Sanford Olson of Nebraska, and Fern Lillian Burnham Olson of Wisconsin. Barbara attended Shasta Union High School in Redding, California; graduating in 1950. She went on to Biola University receiving a BA in 1955 in Education and Christian Education. Barbara wed Ronald Simpson on December 8, 1956. Barbara was a kind and thoughtful friend to all, she wrote cards and letters and made visits and phone calls; she was a great encouragement to many. As a pastor's wife she was a gracious hostess to gatherings both small and large. She loved children, especially preschoolers and always had an eye out for a "good book" to read to and with them. While health permitted, she enjoyed gardening and cooking. Sharing and receiving recipes was a pleasure to her. Barbara loved her immediate and extended family and was always pleased to remember and recount events from the past. Her greatest enjoyment was her Bible and the well-worn pages notated and underlined, show the time spent therein. Faithful in prayer, even when failing health removed other activities from her daily routine, friends and family knew that Barbara was praying for them. Barbara was a joyful and faithful member of the fellowship of believers from her youth in Redding, but more recently: Calvary Bible Church, Grass Valley, California from 1967 to 1983, Strathmore Bible Church, Strathmore, California from 1983 to 1997, Atwater Community Bible Church, Atwater, California from 1997 to 2005 and Evangelical Free Church of Chico from 2005 to the present. Barbara is survived by and will be greatly missed by her husband of fifty-eight years, Ronald L. Simpson of Chico; brother, Robert Olson of Camino, California; three sons, Brian Simpson of North Augusta, South Carolina, Bruce Simpson of Nevada City, California and Neil Simpson of Chico; daughter Gail Hunt of Dayton, Nevada; ten grandchildren and three great grandchildren. To send a flower arrangement or to plant trees in memory of Barbara Louise Simpson, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.