Barbara Matthews

Passed away on June 3, 2019 at the age of 93. Her life spanned an incredible period of change and she thrived through all of it. Born in Cardiff, Wales in 1925, she enjoyed her childhood in town and on the family farm at LLwyndrissi. Eager for adventures, she left for a teaching job in London and then came to Canada on a teacher exchange with her dearest friend of almost 70 years, Joyce Powell. Together Joyce and Barbara adopted Canada as their new home and were the toast of Toronto. Later, they spent a year in Calgary, teaching, hiking and hanging out at the Bar U Ranch on weekends. Back in Toronto, Barbara met her future husband, Lynn Matthews, while playing love interests in an amateur production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Marriage, careers, canoeing in Algonquin Park, and hiking in the Adirondacks with the Powells were soon followed by children, Sian and David, and the cottage on Blackstone Lake.

The most important aspect of Barbara's life were her friendships. Throughout her life, she had many friends, many trips, many dinner parties, birthday lunches and many laughs. Whether at the cottage, on the boat at Wiarton, at home in Toronto or later in Waterloo, Barbara loved to spent time with her circle of good friends. One of her best friends was also her sister, Bernice, and her husband Wilf. The early years in Toronto were spent with the "Welsh crowd" – Joyce and Herb, Margaret and Jerry (Howell), Anne and Bill, Dorothy, Olwen and Charles and the "semi-cousins". Then came the "library crowd" and good friends like Marian and Stuart and Jean and Harry. Upon moving to Waterloo, Barbara found a wonderful circle including Brenda and Charlie, Iris and Jim, Maggie and Eric, the Gothards, the Wards, John and Barbara Williams, and the Guys. In later life, she enjoyed the company of "the girls" at the "Y" - Kate, Judy, Roxanne, Diane and Merv and Jan. The list of good friends is too long to note correctly, and apologies to those we've missed in ink (but not in appreciation).

Barbara and Lynn loved to travel and ventured all over the world. Their travels took them on relaxed adventures, like European cities and canalling in the UK, to the extremes of sleeping in tents in the jungles of the Amazon and Thailand. They hiked all over the world, from the Camino de Santiago to the mountains of New Zealand to the deserts of north Africa. Most of their trips were shared with good friends and created lasting memories.

Barbara was predeceased by only a few weeks by her husband of 62 years, Lynn, and is survived by her children Sian (Gerry) and David (Elizabeth) and grandchildren Maggie, Megan, Owen and Erin.

What a life! Not many people seize their opportunities with the zest of Barbara. Right to the end, she planned her escape from the hospital, no doubt to embark on another trip with good friends, to see beautiful sights and raise a glass of wine. We hope she and Lynn are on an amazing journey right now and spending good times with old friends.

Thanks to the staff at Luther Village Sunshine Centre and the Palliative Care Unit at Freeport Hospital for their kind care and most importantly to Kate Fewster, mum's great friend, with whom she spent many happy adventures and without whom her life would have been much less rich.

Private cremation has taken place. A memorial information will be provided later. For anyone wishing to make a donation in her honour, please consider breast cancer research.