Barbara Bingham Afuvai January 25, 1951 – June 3, 2018 Barbara “Barbie” Bingham Afuvai, soft spoken, passionate mother died at home surrounded by her loving husband, children, and family following complications from cancer. She was 67. Barbie was born on January 25, 1951 in Salt Lake City to Ernie J. Bingham and Donna Mae Wilkinson of Ogden.
As a child, Barbie lived in Menlo Park, CA. Her family moved back and settled in Bountiful, UT where she was reared. She graduated from Viewmont High School.
Barbie then moved to Ogden and attended Weber State College where she met her soulmate, Polo Afuvai, Jr. Barbie loved Ogden, UT and would make this home. Barbie married Polo on July 2, 1971. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake City Temple for time and all eternity on August 13, 1977.
Barbie was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and fulfilled many church callings. Barbie loved to work with people. She was employed at various banking institutions working as Operations Manager.
Customers would regularly visit with Barbie just to talk about life. She was a champion communicator because she genuinely listened, with empathy, to people. She cared.
Perhaps her greatest achievement was the pride she carried from being a mother, and more recently, grandmother. Barbie raised five children. She found little value in hollow praise.
Barbie wanted you to feel loved. One of the most prominent personality traits was manifested in her ability to discern someone’s character, their emotion. She knew when someone was having a hard time.
She would begin with a smile, a sincere salutation, and then she would find a way to have a heartfelt conversation. Chemo appointments became opportunities to relate, to share, to bond with strangers temporally tied to fate. Cancer fortified her resolve to be better.
Her chemo buddies referred to her as, “Compassionate”. Life’s trivial nuances did not seem to matter to Barbie any longer. “Be happy” was her mantra.
She had regrets. She loved. She will be sorely missed.
Barbie is survived by her companion Polo; and her children: Jantz, Mara (Jeff) Criddle, Darce (Brandy), Bradley (Lindsay), and Jacob (Vanessa) Afuvai; and 14 grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings: Lynda (Marv) Chynoweth, Sheri (Spence) Stark, Craig (Anna) Bingham, and Ernie Bingham. She was preceded in death by her parents.
The family extends their heartfelt love to the doctors, nurses, and staff from Utah Hematology Oncology, to all her chemo buddies passed and present, and to all who have helped along the way. Funeral services will be held on Monday, June 11, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Washington Terrace LDS Ward Chapel, 4760 South 200 East, Washington Terrace, UT. Friends may visit with family on Sunday, June 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.
and Monday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Interment, Lindquist’s Memorial Gardens of the Wasatch, 1718 Combe Rd.
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