Barbara Jean (Forster) Mechels, 77, passed away Aug. 13 at Peace Hospice of Montana, in Great Falls from congestive heart failure. Now the hearts of her family and friends are broken as well.

Barbara was well known for her hard work, musical prowess and constant generosity. She was always the hardest-working person in any group, a trait she learned from her mother, Lilly Ann, and one she passed down to her three children. Over the past 25 years, Barbara and her friends were involved with playing music for almost all of the Catholic churches in Great Falls and, recently, at the Catholic church in Cascade. They rarely missed a Saturday evening or Sunday morning, sharing their gifts and doing what they loved. Barbara was always giving of her time, money and energy to anyone in need. Her efforts were endless for family, friends and strangers alike.

In addition to being musically gifted (playing the piano, guitar, banjo and mandolin), she also had many other artistic talents. Over the years, she dabbled in oil painting, watercolor, and charcoal drawings.  She could even see the beauty and hidden art in a piece of driftwood.  Barb also loved to dance, garden and cook. She was an amazing ballet dancer and baton twirler when she was younger. She was also part of a square dancing group for many years and always enjoyed swing dancing throughout the years. Barbara was also an avid gardener, a passion that started with her mother. Barb looked forward to her annual trip to the nursery each spring for her fuchsia plant, geraniums, and tomato plants. Lastly, her love for cooking and trying new foods was bountiful! The library of cookbooks and recipes left behind is a telltale sign of that. Barb even won many cherry pie baking contests in her teens. 

As a working mother of three busy children, Barbara experienced an often-stressful life. Though spread very thin over her duties, she always found time to be a strong role model and mother figure for many in our neighborhood. She provided a good moral compass for her children and their friends. She definitely had a sixth sense for what was going on in the neighborhood. She hauled many extra children to our family cabin at Seeley Lake for a weekend in the woods. Barbara cherished that cabin and all the fun-filled memories that were made there.

No one loved deeper, or laughed harder, or was more proud of her kids and grandkids than Grandma Barb. All of us will treasure the countless hours she played cards and games and her long drives through snowstorms to deliver her “sleigh” filled with Christmas presents. Nothing made Grandma Barb happier than seeing her grateful grandchildren running to her for hugs & kisses and she, in turn, chasing them around the house, around the yard and all around the clock. The bond she forged with her grandkids will forever remain unbroken.

In the end, it was Barbara’s heart that finally gave out, yet it was that same heart – brimming with so much love, compassion, goodness, energy and a strong faith in God -- that propelled her through her remarkable life. It was her amazing heart, which touched so many lives in so many gracious ways, that will live on forever in our hearts and memories. Her love, especially for her grandkids, was boundless, her hugs limitless, her treats bottomless -- and, now, Barbara’s caring oversight will be ceaseless. The spirit of those left behind may be broken for now, but we can take solace in knowing that her faith, family and friends helped to lift her to the heavenly place she so richly inhabits and so easily deserved.

Barbara is survived by her three children, Celeste Ulland and Angela Kinder of Fort Collins, Colorado and Bob Mechels of Bozeman; five grandchildren, Tanner and Cali Ulland, Isabelle and Emery Kinder and Fischer Ossa-Mechels; one brother, Dick Forster; her former husband, Duane Mechels; and her life partner in crime, Guy Haney (all of Great Falls).  

She was preceded in death by her parents, Fritz and Lilly Forster; her brother Bobby Forster; her sister Lillian Mather; and her longtime friend Eileen Bowers.

There will be a Rosary Vigil Service with a visitation beginning at 7:00 PM concluding at 9:00 Pm on Thursday, September 1st at Croxford Funeral Home, 1307 Central Avenue.  Her Funeral Mass will be held at 3:00 PM on Friday, Sept 2nd at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 409 13th St. South in Great Falls.

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