Barbara Evans Obituary

I miss you so much. I wish I had stayed in touch more. Be happy

A special memory of mine is all of the wonderful Christmas Eves we all spent together at Grandma and Grandpa´s house. Our entire family was together.
I know our GRANDPARENTS AND PARENTS loved it as much as all of us kids. I don´t know how we ever fit in that little house

Barbara Evans was a legitimate "force of nature." I never met anyone that did not, personally, like her, even though many disagreed with her politically. But, she could do that.

"In the main," Barbara Evans' strength was found in her willingness to "listen."

I thought so much of your mom. Every no and I´d stop in to see her when she was commissioner. My mom passed a year and half ago. Marlene Bagnell. They were good friends back in the day. I´m so very sorry for your loss. Jesus will take it from here.

May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief.I love you my cousins Kelly

I first met Barbara in 1975. I was interviewing for a position with the Missoula Police, Barbara was one of the 3 Police Commissioners conducting the interviews. At the time, Barbara was also a Missoula Sheriff Reserve Deputy.
I did okay with the interview and was hired. In very short time, Barbara and I became friends and often discussed Missoula issues. Barbara always had terrific insight to problems and how to address them. As a Missoula County Commissioner, Barbara was instrumental in guiding the County from rural county to a thriving economic hub of western Montana. Barbara was a caring person and will be missed.

She was a generous, kind and caring person. She will be missed. RIP

My name is Judy Worden Mickelson and we once lived in a stone house at 215









east spruce street. Next door lived the Muirs whose daughters were Billie and Barbara. Billie and Barbara were good friends of my older sister JoAnne. JoAnne told me that they always waited until it was dark outside and they would open the bedroom window and talk to each other through the window screens. On weekends, they waited until both parents were asleep, and remove the screens and crawl out their windows! They ran down the alley and walked downtown to the Higgins Avenue Bridge. Once there, they would walk underneath the Bridge and climb up to the structure and sit on different areas where there feet hung down over the river. Dangerous? Yes of course, but they were only 15 or16 years old! (Tell me, didn't you do dumb things when you were a teenager?) My parents never ever knew anything. Soon came the older as 16 and 18 years old Boys. JoAnne told me they dangled their feet over the water. They talked, laughed, told jokes and made dates. I told her JoAnne you couldn't even swim and you could have fallen in the river and drowned! She replied," Oh phooey" nothing ever happened!
Many years later when I moved to Loveland, Co with my husband, Wayne, we both worked and on some of our vacations, we would go see our families in Missoula, Mt. My Mom always called my 2 brothers who still lived there and my sister, who lived in Spokane, Washington with her husband and children, to come and see me and Wayne.
I don't recall the year but my brothers both came over and my sister, JoAnne and Dennis came too. We sat in moms big front room and told old stories. My sister said, Mom, I need to tell you what me, Barbara and Billie used to do at night, when we lived on East Spruce Street. Mom was surprised and shocked, to say the least! We all laughed and my brothers said, they had heard it from their friends.
NOTE: Our Mom and Dad were well known in Missoula. They owned and ran the Original Worden's Supermarket on the corner of North Higgins Avenue and East Spruce Street. (Our store was never across the street, where it is now) Tim France moved it over there, when he bought it)
My dad was Roy Worden Sr. His parents bought the building and turned it into the store. There were 3 sons and they were all given a percentage towards the ownership of the store. My mom didn't work there too much. She stayed home and took care of her children.
We had a good childhood with many friends.
Barbara Evans never forgot her childhood friends and families. At the time she became Commissioner, my Mom, called me to let me know. I said, Barbara did what? She repeated it a couple more times. I was so surprised! I shouldn't have been because she was always smart as a button! She was very friendly to everyone.
When Mom was living at the old Camelot apts. and if she had problems with the managers, she would call Barbara for advice. She would tell Mom that she would come over to see her when she finished work. And you know she was always good to her word. When our Mom died, May 18, 2000 Barbara came to her funeral at St. Francis Xavier Church. At the end of the service, she waited for us to come out. She hugged all 5 of us and talked to each of us. I will never forget her kindness to Mom and the rest of us. I will miss being able to call her to see how she was.
God bless you Barbara and behave yourself! HA!!!!
Love, The Wordens

I remember Barbara! As a lowly Eligibility Technician in the welfare department in Missoula,, I met her once when there was a meeting about medical in Helena that she felt we who worked the programs knew more and would be more helpful in attending. So she had me and my supervisor at the time come to see her. I remember that she said her knowledge was " a mile wide and an inch deep "about the program. I loved that phrase. One meeting and you knew she was a lovely person and an accessible County Commissioner.
Dia Erickson