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Obituary for Barbara Anne Vigstrom
Barbara Anne (Sandberg) Vigstrom
July 3, 1942 - June 7, 2022
Barbara was born July 3, 1942, in Whittier, California. She was the youngest daughter of Arlene Ellis and Edward C. Sandberg. She attended William Penn Elementary and Emerson Junior High. One day, sitting on the curb near Bakersfield High School, she was introduced to a young man driving by in a 1952 Chevy-- Richard Vigstrom, an East High Blade. Barbara and Richard dated, and after Barbara graduated in 1960, Richard said he was going into the Army unless she married him. On January 14, 1961, Barbara and Richard were wed. Within the year they began their family. Although Barbara wanted a dozen children, she and Richard compromised at four: Debbie, Billy, Cindy and Jennifer. Barbara worked as a grocery clerk at Thriftimart and Lucky’s while her husband Richard started a small construction rental business, Bakersfield Compaction. As the company expanded, Barbara resigned from the grocery business to manage the family business. A quick 15 years later the business was sold to United Rentals, and Barbara and Richard retired but continued to invest in small properties.
Family was always important to Barbara, and she was known to her grandchildren as “Mormor,” Swedish for mother’s mother. Mormor never really retired. She stayed busy making cookies and dancing to Abba with her grandchildren, watching volleyball, traveling and cruising with family, making annual pilgrimages to Israel where many family members were baptized in the Jordan River, watching Angels baseball, and having dinner weekly for 30 years with her good friends Bob and the late Carol Langley and Bob’s current wife Terrie, and Janet and the late Bob Goff. Barbara was passionate about Israel and the Jewish community (Genesis 12:3), and she supported many organizations, including Christian Friends of Israel, Christian’s Standing for Israel and, closest to her heart, Bridges for Peace, an international organization committed to building bridges between Christians and Jews.
Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Arlene and Ed Sandberg, her brother, Roger Sandberg, and sister, Jeanne Sandberg Aday. She is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Richard, her daughter Debra and husband Glenn Nitayangkul, son Bill and wife Jacque (Endicott), daughter Cindy and husband Richard Sullenger, and daughter Jennifer and husband Russ Wilkins; she is also survived by her beloved grandchildren: Nathan Vigstrom Onesian and wife Kaylin (Kemper), Elizabeth (Vigstrom) Reed-Kraus and husband Ash, Hannah (Wilkins) Baker and husband Nick, Grace (Vigstrom) Champness and husband Sam, Juliana Sullenger, Victoria Vigstrom, Gigi Wilkins, Sarah Wilkins, James Sullenger, and Grayson Wilkins. Barbara also leaves behind three much-beloved great-grandchildren, Charlotte and Colette Reed-Kraus and Theo Champness.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Valley Bible Fellowship (VBF) NW Campus on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bridges for Peace International in memory of Barbara Vigstrom at https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/product/donation-usa/.
July 3, 1942 - June 7, 2022
Barbara was born July 3, 1942, in Whittier, California. She was the youngest daughter of Arlene Ellis and Edward C. Sandberg. She attended William Penn Elementary and Emerson Junior High. One day, sitting on the curb near Bakersfield High School, she was introduced to a young man driving by in a 1952 Chevy-- Richard Vigstrom, an East High Blade. Barbara and Richard dated, and after Barbara graduated in 1960, Richard said he was going into the Army unless she married him. On January 14, 1961, Barbara and Richard were wed. Within the year they began their family. Although Barbara wanted a dozen children, she and Richard compromised at four: Debbie, Billy, Cindy and Jennifer. Barbara worked as a grocery clerk at Thriftimart and Lucky’s while her husband Richard started a small construction rental business, Bakersfield Compaction. As the company expanded, Barbara resigned from the grocery business to manage the family business. A quick 15 years later the business was sold to United Rentals, and Barbara and Richard retired but continued to invest in small properties.
Family was always important to Barbara, and she was known to her grandchildren as “Mormor,” Swedish for mother’s mother. Mormor never really retired. She stayed busy making cookies and dancing to Abba with her grandchildren, watching volleyball, traveling and cruising with family, making annual pilgrimages to Israel where many family members were baptized in the Jordan River, watching Angels baseball, and having dinner weekly for 30 years with her good friends Bob and the late Carol Langley and Bob’s current wife Terrie, and Janet and the late Bob Goff. Barbara was passionate about Israel and the Jewish community (Genesis 12:3), and she supported many organizations, including Christian Friends of Israel, Christian’s Standing for Israel and, closest to her heart, Bridges for Peace, an international organization committed to building bridges between Christians and Jews.
Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Arlene and Ed Sandberg, her brother, Roger Sandberg, and sister, Jeanne Sandberg Aday. She is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Richard, her daughter Debra and husband Glenn Nitayangkul, son Bill and wife Jacque (Endicott), daughter Cindy and husband Richard Sullenger, and daughter Jennifer and husband Russ Wilkins; she is also survived by her beloved grandchildren: Nathan Vigstrom Onesian and wife Kaylin (Kemper), Elizabeth (Vigstrom) Reed-Kraus and husband Ash, Hannah (Wilkins) Baker and husband Nick, Grace (Vigstrom) Champness and husband Sam, Juliana Sullenger, Victoria Vigstrom, Gigi Wilkins, Sarah Wilkins, James Sullenger, and Grayson Wilkins. Barbara also leaves behind three much-beloved great-grandchildren, Charlotte and Colette Reed-Kraus and Theo Champness.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Valley Bible Fellowship (VBF) NW Campus on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bridges for Peace International in memory of Barbara Vigstrom at https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/product/donation-usa/.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Barbara Anne Vigstrom, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.
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