Viola Esther Barrick

Funeral services for V. Esther Barrick, 94, of Baker, will be 4:00 p.m., Saturday, February 4, 2023 at Bridger Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bridger, MT. 

Viola passed away January 19, 2023 in Baker, MT. 

Viola Esther Barrick, (Nana, Aunt Es) was born Viola Esther Conrad on August 16, 1928 at her parents’ home, in Perry County near the town of Carlisle, PA. She was named after her mother, who was named after someone else in her family. Her parents were born, met, and married in Perry County. Her mother’s name was Viola Kerns and her father’s name was William Conrad. She was the fourth of eight children; Helen, Harry, Howard, Betty, Jane, Bobby, June, and Margaret. Both of her grandmothers, Grandma Kerns and Grandma Woodward were nicknamed Daisy. Her father passed away when she was young. Her mother made ends meet working at a factory in the town of Harrisburg, and doing ironing and mending clothes.

Esther, was a good student and enjoyed going to school and helping the other younger children with their schoolwork. She finished school after the eighth grade (with perfect attendance). Her responsibilities growing up included cleaning, ironing, watching her younger siblings, taking care of the chickens, and filling the kerosene lamps at night. When she was old enough she helped her mother out by working at the hospital in the town of Carlisle as a nursing assistant. She moved into town and lived with a lady in exchange for cleaning her house. Esther would work and clean on weekdays and come home on weekends.

Esther would meet and marry her husband, Raymond Ellis Barrick, in spring. They married at the country church one night when they showed up just the two of them to the pastor’s home. He had company over for dinner and they were the witnesses. They would have one child, Linda. They lived in a converted chicken coop that was two stories, with their bedroom and a stove upstairs and a bathroom downstairs. Her fondest memories of this time in her life were the sounds of her daughter laughing when she would play and roll down the bank that was outside of the house. During this time they became Seventh Day Adventists and spent time with the local church community.

In the early sixties Esther, Raymond, and Linda moved to Montana. They lived in a few places when they first moved back, but eventually settled on the Seright homestead where her youngest sister, Margaret Seright, and her husband, Ronald Seright, owned and operated a potato farm. This time was spent raising their granddaughter, Penni, and spending time with her extended family. Esther worked as a cook at Ft. Rockvale Restaurant, and babysitting. Esther (Nana) loved kids, and informally adopted many children over the years that she would babysit and love as if they were her own. She would make birthdays special by baking cakes and making homemade ice cream. Weekends were an adventure, whether it was leading the church kids in a pathfinder outing or driving the backroads with her husband, she was always up for exploring. Esther was involved with the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Bridget, MT, and it brought great joy in her life to worship there. She loved providing food, preparing for potluck, and teaching Sabbath school to the little kids.

Esther is survived by her grandkids, Penni, Raymond (Chip), and Darron; her great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews; brother-in-law Ronald Seright; and children she adopted as her own over the years.

Nana brought joy and happiness to many lives and will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers memorials are suggested to the Seventh-day Adventist Little White Church Fund.