|
ANNOUNCEMENTS
| • |
Obituary for Barbara Gonzales Mackay.
On January 11, 2023, our beloved Auntie, wife, sister, cousin, friend, and confidant passed away
unexpectedly due to complications from diabetes.
Barbara was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 8, 1951, to Raymond J. and Mary O. Gonzales. She
was the third of their five children.
Barbara graduated from South High School class of 1969 where she made many lifelong friends. She
went on to work at Blue Cross Blue Shield as an Actuary, Lamb Engineering and Construction as
Payroll/Accounts Manager and Intermountain Concrete Specialties as Credit Manager, where she
recently attained 22 years of service this past October. She was considering retirement in 2023 but
found it difficult to decide on a specific date as she was dedicated to her job and admired her
coworkers. She was a member of National Association of Credit Management (NACM) attending
monthly meetings and annual conferences in locations such as Las Vegas, Charlotte, San Diego and
Dallas, appealing to her love of travel, engaging with colleagues and continuing education in her career
field.
Barbara was remarkable at keeping in touch with cousins and friends, including maintaining
relationships with those out of state via Facebook. Her [mind] database was incredible! She had a knack
for remembering your birthday and would send cards, texts or posts with her ‘Happy Birthday…’ wishes.
She was also great at remembering phone numbers before there were cell phone contact lists and her
recall of the memories she cherished always reflected the very best versions.
Calling her an avid fan of University of Utah football and Utah Jazz basketball is an absolute
understatement! She often showcased her enthusiasm by wearing team t-shirts, posting her support on
Facebook and calling into sports radio, where she made friends with the talk show hosts at 1320 KFAN.
Barbara married John D. Mackay on June 19, 1993. They spent 34 years together and enjoyed many
shared interests including car shows. Among her favorites, they attended Kruisers for Kids to benefit
Shriners Hospitals for Children, a charity dear to her heart.
An especially significant joy in Barbara’s life was becoming guardian of her great niece, Monique, whom
she raised from the age of 6. Together they were quite the duo! Through the years, their close
emotional bond extended to include Monique’s husband, Julio, and two young daughters, Aubrey and
Annyeie, who she thoroughly adored.
Barbara was incredibly generous with love and support for her stepdaughter, nieces, nephews and
bonus “kids”, and she never missed an event, ball game or party she was invited to.
She is preceded in death by her mom and daddy, Mary and Ray, sister Marie, brother Jim, nephew Joey
and in-laws Jean and Dick Mackay.
Surviving family is her husband, John, great niece, Monique (Julio) Rodriguez, stepdaughter Merci
Sheehan, sister Margie (Terry) Anderson, brother Gene Gonzales, sister-in-law Edna Gonzales, nine
nieces and nephews, nineteen great nieces and nephews, two great-great nieces and her little dog,
Oreo.
Personal message to Barbara written by John:
To my loving wife, you are my life of 34 years. Together we had it all, kids and grandkids that you raised
to be the best. I said to you to wait for me when my time comes, so we can be together again forever.
All my love to you Bubba.
Personal message to Barbara written by Monique:
Never thought this day would come so soon. No words can describe how caring, loving, and amazing you
were to everyone. Always giving. You’re leaving behind so much. We are all so devastated. We will miss
your Facebook posts, all your comments, encouraging words, your laugh, smile, and your sense of
humor. You are such a great soul and will be deeply missed. I promise the girls will NEVER forget you and
all you did for them. Julio and I will always be thankful for all you did for us. You were absolutely
amazing.
You gave up your life to help save mine, something I can never repay you for. Thank you for always
being on my team, being my rock and loving me unconditionally. You deserved the world, and I was just
getting ready to give it to you. But it’s now your time to be dancing in the sky and singing with the
angels. It’s time for you to be with your mom, dad, brother and also my dad. Rest easy my Queen. We
love you so very much. Until we meet again…
A Viewing will be held on Thursday, January 19, 2023 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at Neil O'Donnell Funeral Home located at 372 East 100 South Salt Lake City, Utah. A luncheon will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2023 from 12:00 - 2:00 PM at the LDS South Stake Center located at 2280 South 300 East South Salt Lake, UT 84115.
|
|
