Barbara Ellen Schilly

Barbara Ellen Schilly was born February 6, 1938, in Bakersfield, California. She grew up in Edmonson Acres near Arvin, California where she attended DiGiorgio Elementary School, and established lifelong friendships, especially with her best friend Sue Berry-McGee. She graduated from Arvin High School in 1955 where she earned the nickname Star because, when asked by a teacher what she wanted to be when she got out of high school, she unabashedly said "movie star." She also bore a striking resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. She married Robert Schilly in 1956 and they moved to Bakersfield where she worked as a telephone operator for Pacific Bell until she quit to become a full time mother in 1957. During her twenties and thirties, Barbara was a foster mother for Children's Home Society, making room in her heart and home for babies who were waiting to be adopted. During that time she studied to be a dental assistant and licensed vocational nurse. Eventually she returned to work for the phone company. She retired from AT&T in 1994 in order to spend more time with her parents and grandchildren. Barbara loved entertaining her family with funny stories. She delighted in misusing words and waiting for the inevitable reactions of her audience. She used to put on shows in the family swimming pool, pretending to be a knock-off of Esther Williams whose big trick was to stick a single toe out of the water after much fanfare. She could be gracious and elegant one minute, then cross her eyes and stick out her tongue the next. It was all part of her incredible charm. Barbara enjoyed pampering her granddaughters and was proud of their accomplishments. She watched The Bold and the Beautiful every day, and it was common knowledge that if you called when her show was on, she would not answer the phone. She surprised her family by developing an adorable crush on actor Chris Pratt years before the rest of us figured out that he was a hottie, and she loved to listen to him sing "CuCaRuCaRu, Paloma" and pretend to swoon. Eating out with her family was by far her favorite past time, and she was always happy tucking into an overflowing salad from some soon to be bankrupted salad bar. She recently discovered that she liked Indian food and never turned down the lunch buffet at the Taj Mahal.

Barbara was a devout Christian who loved Jesus. During her life, she attended the Assembly of God Church and Foursquare Church. She loved going to Thursday prayer meetings at New Life Center where she made friends and lifted up the entire community in prayer. When it became too hard for her to physically attend services, she watched them on television. Upon learning that she was of Irish ancestry, she was convinced that the family was secretly part Irish Catholic and began regularly watching a show hosted by a Catholic priest, admitting later that this was primarily because the priest was very handsome. Barbara was always the life of the party: funny, feisty and clever. With her blonde hair and perfectly applied makeup, she was always the prettiest room mother at her daughters' schools. She never lost her positive attitude and her love of life, and she never left the house without lipstick. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Bertha and Hollie Morris and her brother, Wayne Morris. She is survived by daughters Dana Schilly and Darah Schilly, granddaughter Sami Havens and her husband Lance Havens, granddaughter Jillian Popejoy, sister Linda Crowe and her husband Steve Crowe, and nephews Christopher and Jeremy Crowe, and sister-in-law Mary Morris. Barbara wished to specifically thank her ex-husband Robert Schilly and his wife Nancy for all the love and support they provided while she was ill. Her kindness and generosity inspired reciprocity from everyone she knew. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Hoffman Hospice of Bakersfield at https://www.hoffmannhospice.org/make-a-donation/