McCall

On Sunday, Barbara Ann McCall of Anchorage, Alaska, was reunited with her beloved husband, Gary.

Barbara was born Oct. 4, 1938, in Butler to Charles N. and Sarah Smith.

She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh/Presbyterian Hospital nursing school in 1959.

Always a strong and independent woman, she drove to Alaska in 1962 with her best friend from nursing school, Eileen Krcma, and joined in an Alaskan adventure with the love of her life, Gary McCall, with whom she had grown up in Butler. They were married in Anchorage on Nov. 29, 1963.

Over the years, Barbara worked as a nurse at various hospitals including the original Alaska Native Hospital downtown, Providence Hospital, Charter North Hospital, Alaska Psychiatric Institute and Cook Inlet Pretrial.

Barbara and Gary raised three strong, independent children together in Anchorage, Catherine, Vicki, and Gary Jr.

Barbara was a charter member and Past High Priestess of Waheed Court 81, Ladies’ Oriental Shrine of North America. She believed deeply in the work Waheed Court does to support Shriners Hospitals and gave many hours to support this cause.

Barbara loved needlework and was incredibly skilled at sewing, knitting, crocheting and counted cross-stitch, which she especially loved. She was also an accomplished cake decorator who made many wedding cakes throughout the years.

She was a wonderful friend to many and was loved and respected by all who knew her. Most of all, she was a devoted and loving wife, mother and grandmother who was always there for her family, even when her children were grown.

Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, Gary, who died in 1988; her parents, Charles N. and Sarah Smith; and her sister, Karen Smith.

She is survived by her daughter, Catherine White, her husband, George, and their two sons, Ronald and Robert of Anchorage; her daughter, Vicki McCall and friend of the family, Mark Beckmann of Anchorage; her son, Gary Jr. and his wife, Mary, and their daughter, Kaci of Snohomish, Wash.; her sister, Ruth Frazier, and her brother, Thomas Smith of Butler.

We will miss her very much.

MCCALL — A memorial service for Barbara Ann McCall, who passed away Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, will be at the Al Aska Shrine Center, 1930 E. Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage, at 3 p.m. Saturday.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to the Al Aska Shrine Patient Transportation Fund, 1930 E. Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99504, or to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 3851 Piper St., Suite U-331, Anchorage, AK 99508.

Arrangements are entrusted to the Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel, Anchorage.