May 28, 1954 - December 27, 2024
In loving memory ~
Barbara Gayle Dixson (nee Roberts) was born in Berwyn, Alberta, the first daughter of Dell and Beth Roberts. She spent her childhood and teen years in a number of small towns in Northern Alberta, as her father was a railway telegrapher and moved his family frequently.
Barb graduated from Fairview High School in 1972 and the University of Alberta in 1976, earning her BSc in Pharmacy. Soon after, she married Blain Dixson and moved to his family ranch near Beaverlodge, AB, where they raised their children Tori and Kiera. When they grew up and left home she moved to Comox, where her Mom and Dad and brother had taken up residence. There she beautifully renovated a home for her retirement, which commenced in 2017.
Barb excelled at everything she attempted. She was highly determined, fiercely independent, and surprisingly adventurous. She owned and ran the IDA Pharmacy in Beaverlodge for almost a decade, bringing to that endeavour her entrepreneurial and managerial spirit and her tremendous industriousness. Over the years, Barb did everything at the store, from all the basics, to hiring, managing, buying and accounting, all the while excelling as a clinical pharmacist. At the same time, she partnered on the ranch her family called home and opened a gift store with her close friend.
Though unassuming--not being one to seek the limelight--Barbara was an extremely community-minded person, as well, taking on leadership roles in a variety of chambers of commerce, school councils, sports associations and advocacy boards.
She was an accomplished golfer, downhill skier and curler. She enjoyed photography and, like her mother, an avid gardener. She traveled widely, journeying to the Caribbean, Australia, Mexico, China, Africa and India. In her later years, she was happy to head south to the warm climate of Arizona for the winter.
Barb was an unwavering advocate for her two girls, ensuring they were encouraged and supported at home and while establishing their professional degrees and careers. She took great pride in watching her children and grandchildren succeed and grow. She loved home cooking and baking, and never turned down a chocolate. Her smiling eyes and intensively expressive face enabled her to communicate clearly even when dementia took away her voice.
She was an intensely loyal and dedicated person—to her family, to her ventures, and to her community. She was the sort of person meant by those who refer to the salt of the earth or the pillars of a community. She was reliable, dutiful, and kind—as well as nobody's fool. She will be much missed by those she loved and served.
Thank you to all the people who supported Barb while living with the trials of dementia in the last years of her life, including her sister Della and brother-in law Dan, Iris Bayes, Danielle Grant, Glyn Williams, Dr Frolic and the loving care staff at Glacier View Lodge and Adult Day Program.
Barbara Dixson is survived and mourned by her children, Tori (Thomas) and Kiera (Mike); Grandchildren Zoey (T), Jake (K), Rion (T) and Kate (K) and her siblings Dale (Maureen and family), Della (Dan and family) and Tammy (Jordan and family).
