Barbara Edmonds, co-founder of Edmonds, Gallagher and McLaughlin Insurance Brokers Limited and Royal Lepage Edmonds and Associates Real Estate, Pembroke and life member of Petawawa Presbyterian passed away peacefully in a hospital, in March last year, at the age of 74.
Barbara was a fixture in the Pembroke-Petawawa area. Her family was amongst the original members of the Presbyterian Church and she was instrumental in contributing to the fundraising for the current building on Ethel St. She focused her life on three things: family, faith and community.
Rev. Brian Sharpe in his eulogy said, “Barbara lived life by the motto, For it to be, it's up to me.” God made each of us for a purpose she said, and it was our job to fulfill that purpose.
Barbara was open and accepting and extremely practical. I have a great respect for her and a great humility that she would share her thoughts and her faith in life and death with me. I am inspired by her calmness of spirit and her strength of heart.
All her friends from church had the same memory of Barbara as a tireless worker who was humble, never seeking recognition for her contributions. Francis Dupuis, a fellow Presbyterian and committee member for Meals on Wheels said, “Meals on Wheels has lost a tireless worker. She worked tirelessly to help. She delivered meals every Friday for 30 years. Her passing has left a huge void.”
She was also active in other community organizations such as the food bank, the Alexandra Club otherwise known as the Civic Hospital auxiliary. In her later years she carried kits to sleeping children around the world and supported the Stephen Lewis AIDS foundation.
