Obituary of Barbara Estelle Muchmore

Barbara E. Muchmore September 17, 1937 ~ July 15, 2015 Barbara Estelle Muchmore passed away peacefully on July 15th after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. She was born in Greenwich Ct. on September 17th 1937 to Roswell and Estelle Van Loan. At the age of 8, Barbara and her family moved from Connecticut to Santa Barbara Ca, where she attended Montecito School for Girls and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1956. After graduation, Barbara attended secretarial school and moved to San Francisco where she worked as an Executive Secretary at W.J. Sloan. In 1960, on a San Francisco streetcar, Barbara met her future husband Gene Muchmore. They were married in Montecito in 1961 and then returned to San Francisco to start their married life. Their two daughters, Kim and Wendy, were both born in the Bay Area. After a job relocation briefly took them to Memphis Tenn., they decided California was really home and by 1971 they had moved to La Canada where they raised their family and still have a home. To Barbara her home, family and friends were everything. She loved nothing more than creating a beautiful environment for her friends and family to gather and share. Her incredible hospitality will be missed by all who had the opportunity to enjoy it. She was a loving wife and mother and dedicated her life to taking care of her family. She spent many wonderful years as a docent at Descanso Gardens where she loved to lead the school field trip tours and share the beauty of the gardens with children from all over Los Angeles. She also enjoyed working at Tudor Cottage and traveling. Two of her favorite destinations were Nantucket Island and Colonial Williamsburg. Barbara is survived by her husband Gene, her daughters, Kimberly Arnold and Wendy van der Klomp. She will be greatly missed by her husband, daughters, son-in-laws, her 6 grandchildren, 2 step-grandchildren and, 2 step-great grandchildren. Friends and family are invited to an Open House Celebration of Barbara’s life on August 2nd from 2-5pm at the home of her daughter Kim. Please email kimberly6138@att.net for the address. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.ALZ.org (Join the Cause) in Barbara’s name. Directors: Crippen Mortuary