Barbara Grant Kangas Armor ’66 passed away after a courageous battle with cancer on January 16, 2017. She was born on April 21, 1944 in Los Angeles, to Lib and John Grant. After spending most of her childhood in Bakersfield, Calif., she graduated in 1962 from Santa Catalina School in Monterey, and in 1966 from Santa Clara University. She was a teacher in Monterey when she met John Kangas, whom she married in September 1969.

After a few years on the East Coast, Barbara moved to Springville in 1980 and became very involved in her local community. She was a soccer coach and Springville 4-H leader when her children were young, a substitute teacher at Springville School and Porterville High School for more than 20 years, a past president of the Porterville High School Booster Club and, most recently, an active member of the Las Madrinas Guild supporting Valley Children’s Hospital. Barbara also served on the alumnae board of Santa Catalina School for more than 10 years, for which she received the school’s Distinguished Alumnae Award.

More than anything, she loved spending time with family, friends, and her dogs in the mountains at Doyle Springs. There, in 1997, she reconnected with her close childhood friend Bill Armor, and they married in December of that year.

Barbara is survived by her husband, Bill, her daughter Jakie Kangas Beard (Dan), her son Kurt Kangas, her grandson John Robert Beard, her siblings Joanna Grant Hartigan (Wayne) and John Edward Grant, Jr., four nieces and nephews, and six grandnieces and grandnephews. She also is survived by Bill’s children, Christina Armor, AnneLisa Armor Butcher (Brad), and Andrew Armor (Tori), and by two grandsons, James and Charles Butcher.