Barbara Ada Collie

Barbara, Bobbe, Collie was born in Redwood City California in 1926.  As a child, she and her father, Jesse, mother, Evelyn, and sister, Connie, traveled from state to state following her father’s work managing Montgomery Wards stores.  She became fiercely independent as well as adept at adjusting to change - traits she maintained well all of her life.

Bobbe married Tom Collie after graduating from the University of Oregon with a masters degree in Anthropology, and they began raising a family in Eugene.  An ardent Duck fan, she attended home football games, taught her four children the U of O fight song on long station wagon rides to the Deschutes river, and wore yellow and green religiously on game days.  She learned to row a river boat on the McKenzie, cook over a campfire, and pack a picnic dinner for the kids after Tom and his good friend, Bill Hutchinson, came off the river from a long day of fishing.

She was a voracious reader, and a tremendous intellect, always loving a good book and a fiery debate. Bobbe loved music, and attended many concerts at the Hult Center with her sister, Connie.  She had a stunning voice and sang baritone in the Sweet Adelines for years, dressing up in bright sequined costumes and singing along with her dearest friend, Nancy Hutchinson.  She loved sparkly jewelry, matching her sparkling personality, and people were drawn to her shine.  She was a loyal friend, a kind and caring heart.

She and Tom divorced later, but Bobbe remained a dedicated mother and brought up four children on her own.  Daughter, Nan (Jan), sons, Doug (Ellen), Tom, and Bill (Nancy) Collie will miss her dearly, along with her granddaughters - Dani, Jessi, Emily - and four great grand-sons.  She was a character, beloved by many, and she will be toasted in a private party for family.  There will be a gin martini, 4 olives, sitting on the table where she would have held court, and many, many stories shared about a good woman and her hard, hilarious life.  She would have liked it that way.