(1932-2022)

The small town of St. Johns, Arizona, about ninety miles southeast of Winslow, was the birthplace of Barbara Ann Mason on October 26, 1932.

Barbara was the fourth child born to Mary (Marquez) and Augustine Mason, joining her sister Esmel and two brothers, Leo and Herman. Another brother, Augustine (called Auggie), came later. A baby boy died of pneumonia when Barbara was in second grade.

She attended public school in St. Johns even after most of the family moved to Winslow when she was about ten years old; Esmel, who was an adult by that time, remained in St. Johns and Barbara lived with her during the school year.

Augustine was a railroad worker and Mary was a talented seamstress who made many of the children’s clothes herself. Their son Herman in particular seems to have inherited Mary’s creative streak, for he loved to draw and make things like Valentine’s Day cards out of paper and paste he made himself out of flour and water. He also was a good baker, going to work for a local bakery at age fifteen or sixteen and learning the craft very well. “He sometimes brought things home for the family and my mother was happy about that,” Sister Barbara Ann said in her life story.

Read more about Sister Barbara Ann (PDF)

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

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