Muriel was born November 11, 1911 in her parents’ home near South River, ON. In 1914, her family moved to the Neville District in Saskatchewan. She grew up on the farm there with her brothers, Franklin, Stanley, Vernon and Lawrence, and received her education in the country schools and at the Neville High School. She then attended Moose Jaw Normal School (Teachers College) and taught for three and one-half years at Mosquito Creek School about ten miles from home. While boarding at her relatives’ home, Muriel met Archie Barbour and they were married August 7, 1935 and made their home on Archie’s farm near Pambrun, SK. They later ranched near Ponteix and Shaunavon, SK, and various communities throughout Alberta while raising their family. During their years in Alberta, Muriel went back to teaching and taught in several rural schools. She spent her last fourteen years of teaching at Lakeside Hutterite Colony and Wilson Hutterite Colony, near Coaldale. After Archie’s death in 1981, Muriel continued to live on the farm until the fall of 1990, when she moved to Coaldale.
Muriel will be lovingly remembered by her daughter and son-in-law Lorene and Ed Collins of Sarnia, ON; her son and daughter-in-law, Keith and Marilyn Barbour of Cochrane; her son and daughter-in-law Dennis and Sharon Barbour of Coaldale; nine grandchildren and thirty great-grandchildren. She is also survived by four sisters-in-law, Florence Fowke of Swift Current, SK, Florence Murdoch of Vancouver, BC, Margaret MacMullen of Saint Paul, MN and Edna Brown of Victoria, BC. She was predeceased by her husband Archie, four brothers and three sisters-in-law.
Relatives and friends are invited to meet with the family at the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church (2114 – 18 St., Coaldale) on Friday, January 16, 2004 from 7:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Funeral Services will be held at the Coaldale Mennonite Brethren Church (2114 – 18 St., Coaldale), on Saturday, January 17, 2004 at 11:00 A.M. Interment to follow at Mountain View Cemetery, Lethbridge.