Norma Phillips Barlow's Obituary
Norma P. Barlow
Our Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend, Norma Barlow, peacefully returned to her Heavenly Father on October 3, 2020, surrounded by her family, a week after her 88th birthday. Norma was born to Ida Clawson and Edward C. Phillips on September 26, 1932, at home on the family farm in Ucon, Idaho. She was the 2nd daughter and the 7th of 11 children. While growing up, she was a constant companion and help to her mother, where she learned the domestic duties that served her throughout her life. As her father once said, “There is nothing she cannot do.” Norma loved her Savior and had a firm testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all her life. She held many positions in the church throughout her life and carried her faith into everything she did, be it home, the classroom, while teaching, or at church.
Norma attended Ucon City Schools, Ricks College, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education. She met her husband, Glenn B. Barlow, a U.S. Air Force Officer, while living in Fairfield, California. Glenn and Norma were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 11, 1961. After only 5 months of marriage, they were separated for 11 months when Glenn was assigned to Greenland, and they realized it didn’t matter where they lived, as long as they could be together. During the first part of their 59 year marriage, they lived in Utah, California, and Spain, where Norma taught second grade. While living in Seville, Spain, she also rose to the challenge of teaching 1st through 3rd grade in a Quonset Hut at Moron Air Base.
Following his active duty military service in 1967, Glenn accepted a position as an auditor with the Internal Revenue Service and they moved to Santa Monica, California. There they made many friends while looking after the home of Glenn’s parents, as they were away serving a mission. While in California, they adopted two daughters: Julie in 1968 and Lisa in 1971. Later in 1972, they moved to Virginia, where Glenn worked in Virginia and Washington D.C. While living there, Norma taught and instilled in her daughters a love of both Church and American history. After 7 years, they relocated to Fruit Heights, Utah. Throughout her life she faced cancer, surgeries, and two strokes, which she bore with great dignity. They also adopted 5 grandchildren. According to her husband, “She was one of the bravest women I ever knew.”
Norma lived a full life of service to her family and others. She was welcomed by her parents and 8 siblings who predeceased her. She is survived by her husband and their seven children: Julie (J. Bryce Smith), Lisa (Richard Elkins), India Brittany LaPlace, Anna Victoria Vega (Mailee), Owen Garrett Barlow, Evva Maria Barlow, and Ida May Barlow, as well as 11 grandchildren. She is also survived by her sisters, Marie (JT Whitworth) and Adele Barber, and her sister-in-law, JoAnn Phillips.
A special thanks to Diane Sorenson, Lilly Robertson, Allie Osman, Shanna Fowers, and Irene Parkhurst, as well as others at Independence Hospice.
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