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Mount Vernon - Barbara Sue (Snyder) del Bosque of Mount Vernon, WA, passed away on June 6, 2022, from ALS (Lou Gehrig's) Disease. She died peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones. She was born July 11, 1948, in Puyallup, WA, the oldest child of Robert R. "Bob" Snyder and Helen M. (Church) Snyder. Two years later she was joined by a brother, Bob Jr., and 11 1/2 years after that, by their brother, Scott. They were part of a loving, extended family. Their parents were deeply committed to and heavily involved in their church and community. The family enjoyed camping, hosting gatherings, and taking trips together.Barbara attended Puyallup High School, graduating in 1966 in the top ten of her class of over 470. She was the recipient of the Walker Cup, the highest award given to a graduating senior. She then attended Western Washington University, graduating magna cum laude in March 1970. She double majored in history and English, and was a member of Phi Alpha Theta, the national Historical Society. Her thesis paper, a requirement for history majors, was chosen as the outstanding essay for Winter Quarter 1970. Later she continued her studies and received her standard teaching certificate.While at Western Barbara met her future husband, Jesus (Jess) del Bosque. Over the 52 years of their marriage, they built two houses and did two major remodeling projects. Jess was also a teacher and, for almost 40 years, a coach at MVHS. Barbara was the number one "cheerleader" for his athletes, attending hundreds of races, accompanying the team to district and state meets, and hosting team dinners. While Jess was known as "Coach Del", Barbara was affectionately called "Mama Del" by his athletes. When Jess began to travel widely to run his own marathon races, she accompanied him to California, New York City, and Boston among other places.Barbara spent six wonderful years teaching English and choir at Lakewood Junior High and developed life-long relationships with her students. She received the Golden Acorn award from the Lakewood PTA. One of the highlights of each year was the operettas her choirs performed. She stepped down from teaching (temporarily, she thought) to start a family. In 1977 their daughter, Lisa, was born, and four years later they adopted their son, Kevin. Barbara was grateful that Jess made it possible for her to be a stay-at-home mom. She did do some substitute teaching and volunteer work, especially in her children's school. She held a number of positions in her church, was on staff half-time for a period of time, and served as the chairperson for Skagit County's CROP Walk to raise funds for hunger.In the fall of 1990, she went to work for Skagit County's Election Department, first part-time, but soon full-time. Her responsibilities included customer service, lining up workers for all of the county polling sites, and with the help of her wonderful "dungeon crew", providing supplies and voting machines for the polling places. She was always impressed with the dedication and integrity of all of the election workers. In December of 1999, she switched departments to work for Skagit County District Court. She was responsible for incoming and outgoing mail, receipting payments, and customer service. As a bit of a "perfectionist", she worked hard in filing hundreds of alphabetical folders and thousands of numerical tickets, until her retirement in July 2015.As a lifelong Christian, Barbara felt she had been blessed and had a deep, solid faith. As a member of the First United Methodist Church for over 40 years, she fulfilled a number of roles, including serving as chair of the Administrative Board, the Trustees, and the Finance Committee. She assisted in establishing the church's Endowment Fund and in the transition to a single board governance. She served as the financial leader for a half a million- dollar fundraising drive to remodel the church. She enjoyed teaching numerous Bible Study classes, even hosting them in their home. She felt privileged whenever she was asked by her various pastors to lead the worship service and give the sermon. She loved living in the Pacific Northwest with its majestic Mt. Rainier, towering evergreen trees, and colorful fields of daffodils and tulips. She enjoyed reading, flowers, and dog hikes along the Skagit River dike. She loved camping with family and friends, especially at Deception Pass State Park. Barbara and Jess loved sports, including Seahawks football, basketball, and track and field. They especially enjoyed Mount Vernon Boys' Basketball, attending every game for numerous years. She enjoyed attending plays and listening to 60's music. She took great pride in the house and yard she and Jess had created and loved to entertain there. She enjoyed relaxing evenings cuddling with her dog and two cats. Most of all, she loved spending time with family and friends.Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Helen Snyder. She is survived by her loving husband, Jess, who was her amazing caregiver during her battle with ALS; their two children, Lisa (Wes) LaRocque and Kevin (Mistie) del Bosque; her six grandchildren, Makayla and Jace LaRocque, Kaden and Kayla del Bosque, and Leigh Lamay-Isaacson and Mystic Pratt; her two brothers, Bob (Julie) Snyder and Scott (Kristen) Snyder; wonderful nieces and nephews; special friend, Roxy Romanelli, and goddaughter, Alyssa Romanelli. Barbara wished to thank her family and friends for all of their phone calls, cards, visits, food, and love during her ALS. Barbara also wished to thank their daughter for taking a family medical leave of absence to assist with her care. Dr. Wang at UW Medical Center, and Donna Klein, Tonya Kern, and the staff at Skagit Hand Therapy were all wonderful. Barbara and the family wish to thank the caring and compassionate staff from Hospice of the Northwest for their support the last two months of her life and Kathy Robinson, her care provider and friend. A memorial will be held on July 16 at 1 pm at the First United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon, 1607 E. Division St. Donations in her memory may be made to the Endowment Fund of the First United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon or the Skagit Valley Humane Society.
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