Barbara L. Underwood peacefully passed away into the arms of her newfound savior, Jesus Christ, on Monday, October 11, 2021, at home after a short battle with cancer. Her devotion to her family was the bedrock of her long and meaningful life and they all offered great comfort to her in the final days.
Barbara was born October 7, 1938, in Tombstone, Arizona to Angel and Laura Baldenegro. She graduated Valedictorian from Tombstone Union High School in 1956, and then attended the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona on a tennis scholarship. Barbara met Patrick Underwood at this time while he was stationed at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. They were joined in marriage in Tombstone on June 28, 1958, and were blessed with four children. During their time in the Air Force, they were stationed in numerous places, to include Arizona, Montana, Utah, California, and Texas, with one of Barbara’s favorite locations being in Brampton, England at the Royal Air Force Alconbury Air Base. Barbara worked many jobs over the years to include time with Gallatin Farmers Company in Belgrade, and with the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in Bozeman, after Patrick retired from the Air Force and they made their home in Churchill, Montana.
She loved the adventure of travel and living wherever the Air Force took them, always making sure to make a wonderful loving home with each new move. Patrick and Barbara moved back to the Gallatin Valley in 2003 to be close to family after living in Vermont, Idaho, and Oregon. Above all else, she loved her family, being a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. As a mother, and grandmother she took keen interest in the lives, work, and adventures of all her loved ones. She excelled in being an intentional listener. She is deeply loved and will be missed by her surviving family, but we find solace in the fact that she is with her heavenly father.
Barbara is preceded in death by her parents, Angel and Laura; a brother, Richard; her husband, Patrick; and her oldest son, Gerald. She is survived by brother, Angel (Renee) Baldenegro; brother, Ralph; sister, Martha (Jerry) Schooner; her daughter-in-law, Becky Underwood; daughter, Diana (Glen) Flikkema; daughter, Deborah (David) Hinchcliff; son, David (Jody) Underwood; grandchildren, Mike Underwood, Jennifer Leake, Jeremy Flikkema, Mikaela Mathias, Bethany Flikkema Lynn, William, Alexandra, and Patrick Hinchcliff, Jaecob Underwood, and Jessica Fischer; great-grandchildren, Aliya Underwood, Lexi and Aubrie Leake, Logan, Cole, and Alida Hinchcliff, Dae Shaun High Hawk and Johnathan Underwood, and Liam, Cyrus, Everly, Gwen, Calvin, and Freyja Fischer.
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Friday, October 29 in the Fireside Room at Grace Bible Church. A Celebration of Life and a reception will follow the funeral service. In lieu of flowers, donations in Barbara’s name may be made to Liberty Place, P.O. Box 446, Whitehall, MT 59759.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com[dokkennelson.com]
