Former Merced County resident Barbara Jean Nord, a loving mother, grandmother, sister, and friend to many, passed away of natural causes on Sunday May 6, 2018 at her home in Tempe, Arizona. She was 71 years old. She was preceded in death by her parents George and Pauline Nord and her brother Mark Nord, all of Atwater, California.
Barbara was born at Ft. William McKinley, Philippines on February 1, 1947, where her father was stationed with the U.S. military. She graduated from Clovis High School in New Mexico in 1964 and attended Eastern New Mexico University in 1965 majoring in liberal arts.
She later graduated from Merced College in 1969 with her A.A. in Sociology and from CSU Fresno in 1973 with her B.S. in Criminology. Barbara was a former local beauty pageant contestant and was crowned Miss Castle Air Force Base in 1966. She also was a contestant in the 1966 Miss Merced County pageant.
Barbara began her public service career in 1965, first working for the Social Security Administration, then as a Detention Officer at the Merced County Juvenile Hall. Following her graduation from CSU Fresno, she became a Probation Officer with the County of Merced for many years. She later transferred to the Stanislaus County Probation Department for a few years before transitioning to become a Welfare Fraud Investigator, Counselor, and Child Protective Services Investigator with Stanislaus County.
She also briefly held the position of Victim-Witness program director for Merced County in the 1990’s. Barbara later transferred to the State of Arizona to continue her work with Child Protective Services investigations until her retirement in 2005. Her survivors include her two daughters, Erika Kranich of Atwater and Amanda Wallen of Las Vegas, Nevada; her three sons, Michael Boyer of Nampa, Idaho, Matthew Boyer of Los Banos, and Steven Wallen of Duluth, Georgia.
She had eleven grandchildren. Additional survivors include her siblings in California—Myra Metz of Las Palmas, Veronica Carlisle of Merced, Diana Nord of Modesto, Greta Janz of Atwater, Peter Nord of Bonsall, and Gigi Nord of Houston, Texas. Services will be held on Friday June 8, 2018 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Atwater beginning with a Catholic Rosary at 9:30 am and Mass at 10:00 am.
Following the mass, there will be a procession to the Winton Cemetery for the burial of her ashes at her parent’s gravesite. Ivers & Alcorn Funeral Home in Atwater will assist in the services. For information regarding the sending of flowers, please contact Ivers & Alcorn Funeral Home at (209) 358-4931.
Donations can be made through a Go Fund Me account set up in her name.
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