Barbara Cristobal, 69

Barbara Jean Strickland Cristobal, 69, of Mountain Home, died Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007, from cancer, at a local hospital.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25, at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel in Mountain Home. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home. A reception will follow the service at the Elk's Lodge in Mountain Home.

She was born at Saint Alphonsus Hospital in Boise, on April 27, 1937, to Grant and Jodie Strickland, and raised on a ranch in the Bruneau valley. She was the oldest of Grant and Jodie's four children: Barb, Dick, Patty, and Curt.

She was a tomboy at heart, with bruises and scars to show for it, her family said.

She graduated from Bruneau High as salutatorian of the 1955 Bruneau Bobcats. After graduation she went to Seattle to attend dental assistance school, but, her family noted, "it didn't take her long to realize she missed her true love, our dad, John Cristobal."

She and John were married Dec. 3, 1955, in Elko, Nev.

Barbara worked for Dr. John Bideganeta's dental office until she retired after 29 years. After a brief retirement she and her husband started Cristobal Construction, Inc. "She didn't have an office job with the construction company," her family noted, "she started just like everyone else, being a wheelbarrow operator." Pay was minimal but it was a family affair. "At the end of the day we could always say a family that works together, plays together, stays together."

She "loved being involved in the community," and was active in a wide range of community projects, activities and groups that included, but were not limited to, delivering meals on wheels, helping out at the nursing home, the Mountain Home Hospice, the Mountain Home Historical Museum, and as one of the leaders of the famous 4th of July "street walkers," who raise funds for the annual fireworks display.

"If someone needed a helping hand mom loved to help them. That gave her great pride," her family said.

"Mom's whistling is now silent but her memories will always be with us," the family added.

She is survived by: her husband, John; daughter Chris and her husband, Mark Alzola; son John and his wife, Julie Cristobal, all of Mountain Home, four grandchildren; her mother, Jodie Strickland; her brother, Dick, and his wife, Linda Strickland, of Bruneau; her sister, Patty, and her husband, Bob Pinkston, of Spring Valley, Wisc.; her pup "Scooter" and her cat "Kat."

She was preceded in death by her father, Grant, and her brother, Curt.

In lieu of flowers memorials can be made in Barb's honor to: The 4th of July Fireworks, Pioneer Credit Union, Atten: Sharon Fletcher, 250 W. 3rd South St., Mountain Home, ID 83647; or Meals on Wheels, c/o Senior Citizens Center, Atten: Patty, 1000 N. 3rd East St., Mountain Home, ID 83647; or Mountain Home Burn Out Fund, c/o Phil Gridley, 220 S. 2nd East St., Mtn Home, ID 83647; or Bruneau Cemetery, c/o David Jones, P.O. Box 152, Bruneau, ID 83604; or Bruneau QR., c/o Mary Tindall, P.O. Box 194, Bruneau, ID 83604.