Barbara A. Irgens (née Southwell), October 1931 to December 22, 2021. Barbara died peacefully in her sleep the morning of December 22 with her husband of 63 years, Roar, by her side. Born in Seattle, Barbara attended Ballard High School, graduating in 1949, the first in her family to earn a high school diploma. After graduating, she worked five years, first with a doctor and then for McKesson (pharmaceutical supplies) before matriculating at the University of Washington in 1954. Her father, bursting with pride to have his daughter in college, hired her part-time in his drapery shop to help her pay for school. Informed by her advisor, "chemistry is too hard for girls," she enrolled as a home economics major. This lasted one quarter. At the beginning of her second quarter she, in her own words, "marched into the Chemistry chair's office and declared, 'chemistry is not too hard for girls,'" officially changing her major to chemistry with a minor in mathematics. She graduated with her B.A. in 1961. Her daughter commented that "mom as a home ec major is as crazy as John Wayne being a home ec major," which amused her. In addition to being an early woman in STEM, Barbara was also a leader in women's slacks apparel. By the age of nine she requested "dress slacks," which her mother accommodated. A huge smile always accompanied the story of her mother buying that first pair of dress slacks.

A former member of Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, in Seattle, Barbara was an active member in their College and Career Club and church choir. A new young man from Norway, Roar Irgens, signed up for the Club's July 12, 1957, camping trip to Orcas Island. Barbara and Roar met in the parking lot, became interested in each other while on the ferry to the island, were engaged six weeks later, and married on July 12, 1958. Barbara loved to joke, "I chased Roar up Mt. Constitution until he caught me."

After they married, Barbara worked for two years as a biochemistry and microbiology lab technician at the University of Illinois where Roar was a graduate student. In 1964, Roar accepted a one-year position with the Minnesota State Department of Health in Glenwood, MN. When this position ended, Missouri State University (MSU) in Springfield offered him a professorship, so Barbara and Roar moved to Springfield and bought their first home, where they lived for 24 years. Once their children started school, Barbara worked as the MSU lab coordinator and instructor for the introductory chemistry labs, a job she kept for twenty years. She cared strongly about being a good teacher and colleague; one colleague described her as "diligent and thorough in everything she took on."  During this period she wrote a chemistry lab manual, Beginning Experiments In General, Organic & Biochemistry (Kendall Hunt, 1986), donating the proceeds to MSU. It was in print for many years, remains available online even today through unofficial third-party websites, and Kendall Hunt currently has it under review to republish.

Barbara was a skilled amateur engineer, converting the family car's cigarette lighter into an outlet to play cassette tapes before adapters existed. She rigged a method for recording TV programs from an analog television to an old-fashioned black-box cassette recorder using two cables and a kitchen timer. The invention of computers found her ahead of her children in learning computer skills, including designing graphics for her personal greeting card line.

In the 1970s Barbara and Roar purchased property in the Cascade Mountains. They drove every summer from Missouri to landscape the property and build a small cabin. One of her favorite activities was clearing and maintaining their cabin property. Working to maintain the natural growth and plant life on the property, Barbara cleared walking paths, maintained the creek bank, and split logs into her eighties.

Barbara explored her world through many viewpoints including music, yoga, tai chi, Christianity, automatic writing, nature, poetry, and her children's eyes. She maintained a child's open-minded view of the world and an uplifting sense of humor her entire life. Friendly and genuine, she could turn a room full of strangers into friends. She shared her love of nature with her children, taking them hiking and camping, teaching them to love the Earth. Barbara was a warm and loving mother, always ready to listen to her children. Her explorations of spirituality led her to a greater understanding of humanity and her love of music brought her joy, which she also shared with her children.

Music was an important part of Barbara's life. She was an adept pianist in childhood, winning local competitions in the Seattle area, and was a "National Winner Elementary Class" at age 13. She also taught herself harmonica, recorder, banjo, and ukulele, and as an adult took lessons on violin and classical guitar. She loved to sing; she sang to her children, was active in her church choirs, brought singing to her exercise classes, and sang Christmas carols on her last day of life. She attended and supported many musical organizations, and she and Roar founded two groups of amateur musicians who performed for each other and private occasions, the "Springfield Recital Society" in MO, and after retirement in Shelter Bay, WA, the "Shelter Bay Musicians" who performed in the Shelter Bay Clubhouse.

Barbara is predeceased by her parents, James Murlan Southwell and Beulah (Jones) Southwell Smith. Survivors are her husband, Roar Irgens, children Heidi Irgens (Stuart Cheney) and Leif Irgens (Billie Wiant), grandchildren Aminda and Sylvia Cheney-Irgens, brother Jeffrey Southwell (Linda), and nephew and great nephew Peter and Zachary Southwell. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, please send a Memorial contribution in Barbara Irgens' name to The Hospice of the Northwest Foundation, 227 Freeway Dr. Suite A, Mount Vernon, WA 98273 or online at www.hospicenw.org . A memorial service is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., June 18, 2022, at Salem Lutheran Church, 2529 N Laventure Rd, Mount Vernon, WA 98273.