Obituary of Barbara Jean Wibom
Barbara Jean Karr was born on May 25, 1933 in San Francisco, California. When she was about 7 years old, her father passed away. Later her mother Juanita married Milton C. Engdahl, a local business owner. Soon the family moved to Modesto, California where Juanita opened a hamburger stand. She made a special secret sauce which customers loved. Barbara helped with the family business and was a carhop in her teenage years. When the family moved to the Sacramento area, Milton and Juanita went into the motel business, and bought and sold real estate. Barbara graduated from Sacramento State with a teaching credential.
Barbara met Howard Plank at a family gathering in Davis. They were married in 1956, and lived in Davis for a few years. Soon Dwight, Judy and David Plank were born. Then the family moved to Colusa County so Howard could help with the family farming business. After a few years as a stay at home mom, Barbara continued teaching, working at Williams Elementary School for many years, first as a Kindergarten teacher, then third grade. After a few years in a house on H Street in Williams, the family moved to a ranch on Husted Road just outside of Williams, raising ducks, geese, horses, cats, dogs, all kinds of animals, and enjoying summer trips to Mendocino and South Lake Tahoe.
Barbara decided to go back to Sac State to become a Speech Therapist. She worked in the local schools and in the Colusa County Office of Education. After Barbara and Howard divorced, she and David moved to Somerset, California, where she had bought a piece of land with a rustic ranch house on it. One day she met Art Wibom, a retired air traffic controller. They were married soon afterwards, and moved to Nevada, where they owned and operated a mobile home park. Barbara loved Nevada, and talked about it often. She loved the rolling hills, wide open spaces, and rustic, country living. She returned there many times on trips, mainly to Topaz Lake, Nevada.
When her mother Juanita passed in 1991, Barbara, recently divorced from Art, moved to Live Oak, California to be near her only brother. In December 2010 she met her soul partner, Jerry, who happened to live right across the street. Barbara and Jerry enjoyed a wonderful partnership of seven years. Altogether, Barbara lived 24 happy years in Live Oak until her passing on November 30, 2017. She is survived by her brother Richard, her children Judy and Dwight, two grandchildren Kelsey and Travis, and, of course, Jerry. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society.
