Barbara Ann (Boyle) Salars was born on October 30, 1931, in Morris, Illinois, a farm town in the Northeast corner of the state. Raised in a strong Irish Catholic household, she was the youngest child and only daughter of Lawrence Andrew Boyle and Hazel Hartshorne Boyle. She had three brothers: Larry, Arthur, and David. The family farm was located on the banks of the Illinois and Michigan Canal that connected the Mississippi/Illinois Rivers and Lake Michigan. She enjoyed ice skating on the canal. She graduated from Morris High School in 1949 and then attended the College of St. Francis in Joliet, where she earned degrees in Chemistry, Education, and Home Economics. In college and later in life, she taught archery and bowling.

Her first job was as a 4-H agent in Will County, Illinois, and then she moved to Silver City, New Mexico, in 1956, where she became the 4-H agent. While a 4-H agent, she had the opportunity to become the Grant County Home Economist and ended up performing both positions. In 1957, she started the Vagabond 4-H club for older teenage girls, concentrating on world travel and cuisine.

Barbara met Calvin Salars in November of 1957 at a 4-H banquet after-party, and they started dating in January 1958. Barbara married Calvin on December 12, 1958, and they were married for 44 years until Calvin passed in 2004. They had and are survived by three sons: Randy and his wife Monika of Silver City, Mark and his wife Lori of Roseburg, Oregon, and David and his wife Dolores of Tucson. Barbara's husband and her boys were the love of her life. She is also survived and has a special place in her heart for numerous nieces and nephews in Illinois and New Mexico, Sister-In-Law Susie Salars, her two granddaughters (Jessika and Kayla), and her seven great-grandchildren. She also had fond memories of every 4-H member and school pupil she taught, "even the rascals." While in her 80s, she traveled extensively in Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland, visiting family and the old country.

After she left the County Extension Service and her boys were older, she became the Home Economics professor at Western New Mexico University. She started the 4-H Round-up club in 1970 and continued as leader into the 1980s. At one time, the club had over 75 members, and they met twice a month in her living room. Her specialties were teaching baking, cooking, and sewing, and many members later expressed their gratitude for the valuable skills she had passed on to them. This club was highly noted for its many national scholarship winners, and members have continued visiting Barbara when they are in town.

In 1980, she developed cancer, and instead of going through traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatment (after seeing three sisters-in-law die from that), she chose to fight the cancer with holistic medicine (laetrile and interferon) and was declared cancer-free in 1984.

During her life, she was very active in many social and civic organizations, including the White Water Extension Club, Silver City Little League, John Birch Society, Grant County Archeological Society (life member), Westerners, Silver City Women's Club, and Grant County Widow and Widowers Association, as well as being a long-time Volunteer at the Silver City Gospel Mission. She also attended most sports, swimming, band, 4-H, Boy Scout, and DeMolay events her sons were involved with, and was a long-time substitute teacher at La Plata Jr. High and Silver High School. Calvin and Barbara also found time on a couple of occasions a month to enjoy a beer at the Elks club or attend a party or other social gathering.

When Calvin and Barbara first started dating, and all through their lives together, they enjoyed traveling throughout the southwest collecting antiques, woodcutting, prospecting, and archeological investigating. They often accompanied the Gila National Forest archeologist to help identify and map the many sites and ruins on the Gila. They also operated the Hawk Canyon Silver Mine in the Burro Mountains West of Silver City. One of Calvin's favorite stories about Barbara was when they first got together; Calvin had to point and have Barbara look down his arm to see a herd of deer. After years, they could drive along, and Barbara would say, "Look at that deer," and Calvin would say, "Where?" Barbara would answer, "Don't you see that ear sticking out behind that tree?" Even though she wasn't native-born, Barbara considered herself a native New Mexican.

Barbara passed away on October 3, 2024, in the family home, surrounded by her loved ones. Her ashes will be buried alongside Calvin at Fort Bayard National Cemetery on Tuesday, October 15th, at 11 a.m. A Celebration of Life will follow at the Silver City Women's Club. In addition, her ashes will also be scattered at one of her favorite spots in Grant County, New Mexico, and along Aux Sable Creek in Grundy County, Illinois. Donations can be made in her name to the Silver City Gospel Mission, PO Box 1598, Silver City, NM 88062.

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