Barbara Hebertson

Barbara Collings Hebertson passed away peacefully on March 30, 2024, surrounded by loving family, at the age of 93 from congestive heart failure. To the end of her life she supported her husband, Richard, with all of her strength and she joined him in eternity only three days after his passing.

Barbara was born on October 10, 1930, in Deer Lodge, Montana, to William Clark and Della Miller Collings. She was the second child and oldest daughter of six children, three boys and three girls. She enjoyed her childhood in Manti, Utah, near the base of the Manti Temple hill, living in close proximity to her grandparents and many relatives. She remembered fondly the freedom to play outside all day in the hills, the barns, and under the bridges, knowing well every hiding place in the neighborhood. There were fun family reunions and hard work on the farm, picking fruit in fields and orchards. Rural life was not easy, but through it Barbara learned the value of hard work and skills of self-reliance.

At the age of 12, the family moved to Provo and later to Orem where Barbara attended Farrer Junior High and Lincoln High School. She enjoyed learning and was a dedicated student. She also participated in many social activities, played the cello, and graduated from seminary, excelling in everything in which she was involved. It was during her high school years, at the age of 16, that she first met and dated Richard Hebertson, a classmate who would later become her husband. 

After graduation, when Richard left to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, Barbara continued her studies at BYU and worked a daily 9-hour shift at the telephone office. She remembered this time as being “hard work” – attending class, working, and staying up late into the night completing term papers on a typewriter. College days were also a time of waiting the long 2 ½ years for Richard’s return, during which she wrote to him faithfully and didn’t date.

Shortly after his return, Richard and Barbara were married on August 22, 1952, in the Salt Lake Temple. This was the beginning of 71 years of loving service to each other, their 5 children, and their posterity. From that day, Barbara stood by Richard’s side and worked diligently behind the scenes to support him as he pursued his education and fulfilled the responsibilities of his medical career.

Barbara’s life centered happily around her family and her home. Richard said of her, “she has been the ultimate wife and homemaker.” Meticulous, organized, diligent, efficient, and caring are all words to describe how she ran their home and nurtured the family. She had a gift for creating beauty, order, and peace in the lives of everyone around her. 

During these years she served faithfully in many ward and stake callings, as well as being involved in the PTA and other school activities to support the children. Her skills and talents also blessed others in her community. She was an expert quilter and served for many years on the board of the Holiday Quilt Show and Auction. She loved doing handwork, such as mending, and making hundreds of blankets and quilts for family and to donate to others.

The years of her life after Richard’s retirement in 1992 were joyful and filled with family time and serving missions for the Church. She was by Richard’s side as he served as a Medical Adviser at the BYU Jerusalem Center. A few years later, they served together in the New York Rochester Mission, assigned to the Church History Sites. Following their return, they served from home in the Church’s Missionary Medical Department for nearly 14 years, well into their 80s. Their missionary service blessed their lives with wonderful friends, memories, and spiritual experiences.

Barbara once said that her goals in life included living a good life, serving others, staying true to her faith in Jesus Christ and His Church, and enduring to the end. In all these things, and many others, Barbara was successful. She was a loving and dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, neighbor, and friend, beloved by all who knew her. She completed her mortal journey supporting Richard through his health challenges, while patiently enduring her own. Richard’s last words were a tribute to her for the years of loving service to him and to their family. 

Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, Richard M Hebertson, her parents, William Clark and Della Collings, her siblings Wendell Clark Collings, Boyd M Collings, and Elaine Sorensen. Barbara and Richard are survived by their children Jennifer (Kim) Bertin, Paul (Kagari) Hebertson, Mark (Nicole) Hebertson, Carolyn (Craig) Peterson, and Christine (Kyle) Bown, 23 grandchildren, 44 great-grandchildren, and 6 great-great grandchildren. Barbara is also survived by her siblings Marilyn (Don) Meldrum and Howard (Sherry) Collings and a brother-in-law Roger Sorensen.

The family would like to express our appreciation for the loving care given to our parents by neighbors and members of the Foxhill Ward, the nurses and aides from Synergy HomeCare and Inspiration Home Health & Hospice, and the attending doctors and nurses at Lakeview Hospital during Barbara’s final hours.  

Combined funeral services for Richard and Barbara will be held on Friday, April 12, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at the Foxhill Ward Meetinghouse located at 200 South Eagle Ridge Drive, North Salt Lake, Utah. Friends and family may visit on Thursday, April 11, from 6-8 p.m. at the Foxhill Ward building and prior to the funeral from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Please park and enter on the north side of the building. Interment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery. 

Services will be streamed live on Zoom at:  https://zoom.us/j/98519102167?pwd=OVMyNWc0SFdhaW5CbWpNQVVvT0NXUT09  Webinar ID: 985 1910 2167   Passcode: Foxhill.   

In lieu of flowers, please consider a humanitarian donation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.