Barbara Jean Pace Morgan passed away Saturday, June 23, 2012, at her daughters’ home in Pahrump, Nevada.

Barbara was born on May 12, 1930 in Cedar City, Utah. She is the first of five children born to Leslie Alexander Pace and Wilma Bloem Pace. Leslie and Wilma raised their family in Cedar City and New Harmony, Utah.

After graduating from Cedar City High School and completing coursework at Branch Agricultural College and LDS Business College, Barbara began a career as a professional stenographer and secretary. Her employment took her to Cedar City and Salt Lake City, Utah; and to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Her employers included Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Utah Construction Company, and United States Steel.

Barbara first met Ronald Charles Morgan in Cedar City when they both worked at the iron mines west of town. The two met up again in San Francisco, after job opportunities landed them both in that city. It was just meant to be. The couple was married on December 13, 1958.

Barbara and Ronald were blessed with the addition of children Kathleen and Charles to their family while living in California. In 1961, Ronald’s employment took the family to Lander, Wyoming, where the family was soon blessed again, with the birth of daughter Gayle.

Tragedy struck the young family when Ronald died on June 30, 1963, leaving Barbara as head of the household of three children, the oldest of whom was not yet four. Barbara and Ronald’s marriage was solemnized in the LDS St. George Temple on July 20, 1977.

In 1966, Barbara moved her family to Cedar City, Utah, where she could be close to her parents and her sister Pat’s family. There, Barbara raised her family and resumed her career at (now) Southern Utah University, where she worked until her retirement in 1997.

Barbara is preceded in death by a sister, Ardyn, her husband, and her parents. She is survived by siblings Carolyn (Jack) Wainwright, Robert (Kaye) Pace, and Patricia (Dellas) Imlay; children Kathleen, Charles, and Gayle; grandchildren Brennon (Mandy) Miller and Nathan (Misty) Miller; and great-grandchildren Jayde, Kasey, Brooke, and Hallie Miller.

Services will be held on Saturday, June 30, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. at Southern Utah Mortuary, 190 North 300 West, in Cedar City, Utah. Visitation will be from 9:30-10:45 a.m. Interment: Cedar City Cemetery under the direction of Southern Utah Mortuary. 

Please consider a memorial contribution to Best Friends Animal Society or Southern Utah University. Online condolences can be sent at www.sumortuary.com.