Barbara (Smith) Wilder Yawitz passed away on Saturday, Dec. 27, peaceful in the knowledge that her daughters and husband — not she — will have to deal with a house and garage full of stuff that represented a life well lived.
Born Feb. 26, 1938, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Pauline (Bukovnik) and Joseph Smith, she joined a large Slovenian clan of a doting grandmother, loving aunts and uncles under the same roof. As a little girl, her grandmother was her caretaker and friend, pulling her through the East Cleveland neighborhood in a little red wagon that always had one of her kitty companions on board. Later, her aunts taught her the thrill of the hunt of rummage sales and flea markets while her uncle taught her to curse the failings of the Cleveland Indians baseball club.
The family eventually moved into its own home in Euclid, Ohio, a stone’s throw from Lake Erie, and was joined by baby brother Ken. In Euclid, Barbara attended St. Christine Catholic Elementary and Euclid High School before moving on to Bowling Green University, where she quickly caught the eye of her first husband, Chuck Wilder.
After leaving school, she briefly worked for rock n' roll pioneer and concert promoter Alan Freed in Cleveland. The experience only fueled Barbara’s lifetime love of music, especially blues and jazz. Later, Barbara, a stickler for spelling and grammar, would leave Freed to join the copy editing desk at the Cleveland Press newspaper.
While working in Cleveland, she became engaged to Wilder and the two were married in Tennessee, marking the start of a cross-country adventure that included life on a houseboat near Miami and stops in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Mercer Island, Washington; and San Francisco and Berkeley, California. As Chuck worked toward his Ph.D. in sociology at Cal-Berkeley, Barbara stayed at home with firstborn daughter Adelaide (Addie), followed by daughters Cara and Emily.
The family lived in the Bay Area during the tumultuous late ‘60s and early ’70s, and Barbara’s progressive politics took root. A lifelong Democrat, she was passionate about civil rights, social justice, and equal rights for women. She fondly remembered strolling her toddler daughters to anti-war marches in San Francisco. She followed politics until her death and was distressed about the direction of the country.
In 1973, Chuck accepted a job teaching sociology at Montana State University, and the whole brood moved to Bozeman.
As the kids grew older, Barbara had time to indulge in her passion for the theater, performing in MSU productions that included “The Night of the Iguana” and “The Time of Your Life,” alongside John Hosking, Rhonda Smith, Troy Evans, and many new theater friends. She also acted in plays at the old Loft Theater above the Red Barn. A special memory was a play in which she and Cara performed the same character at different ages.
Following her divorce in 1979, Barbara took her proofreading skills learned at the Cleveland Press to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. There she met then sports editor Michael Yawitz. A couple of years later, the two married.
Barb and Mike built their own nest together, renovating a 1908 Queen Anne-style home on South Third. When not stripping wood floors or tearing out plaster and lathe, Barbara spent weekends at garage sales and thrift stores, accumulating a garage-bursting amount of clothes, jewelry and furniture. With her unique eye for style and the cultural zeitgeist, Barbara took a leap of faith and brought “vintage” to Bozeman, opening her popular Main Street shop, “Glad Rags.” After a few successful years, she sold the shop and turned her attention to another passion: gardening.
But living on a postage-stamp-sized lot was limiting, so Barbara scouted around and found just the right spot — a home that afforded space for a vast collection of peonies, hostas, roses, bulbs of all varieties, wildflowers and more. It also came with loving and supportive neighbors who became like family in her later years.
It was her Garden of Eden.
It became even better with the arrival of a different crop — a granddaughter and three grandsons. She immersed herself in their games, read them tales and exposed them to music (although some say subjecting children to polka music is a form of child abuse, Barb insisted that Frank Yankovic was good for the soul.)
But with the years came failing eyesight and numerous health challenges. No longer able to prune in the garden or attend plays or concerts, Barbara slowly retreated and her health problems multiplied. It all came to an end two days after Christmas — three days after marking her 41st wedding anniversary — surrounded by family and the caring nurses of Bozeman Deaconess.
A sad end, but not THE end, as Barbara leaves a legacy of love — love of family, love of music, love of theater, love of nature.
Barbara is survived by her husband, Michael Yawitz of Bozeman; daughters, Cara Wilder of Bozeman, and Emily Wilder (Frank McBrearty) of Beavercreek, Oregon; granddaughter, Ana Artemis Wilder of Portland, Oregon; grandsons, Charlie Work of Fort Benning, Georgia, Simon Work of Bozeman and Silas Wilder of Beavercreek, Oregon.
Barbara was preceded in death by daughter, Adelaide Wilder.
A celebration of life is planned for the end of June and will take place among the blooms in Barbara’s garden at her Bozeman home. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to HRDC, Sage Gardeners or a local theater company of your choice.
Arrangements are in the care of Dokken-Nelson Funeral Service. www.dokkennelson.com
