Obituary of Barbara Anne La Rue

Barbara Anne La Rue (Mills)

May 17th 1942- Nov 16th 2023

Barbara passed peacefully following a longtime illness on Nov 16th, 2023.

She was born in Michigan to William and Winifred Mills, the second of 5 children. She later moved to Tucson, AZ as a young child with her family. She graduated from Catalina High School in 1960. She later met and fell in love with the love of her life William La Rue in 1962. They married on February 23rd, 1963. They went on to have 6 children together. William sadly passed away in 1998 and she never remarried.

Barbara loved kids and her faith so much that she became a preschool teacher for a church and Christian school. She and her family relocated to Show Low in the early 1980s. She changed her career to working with mentally ill people as a case manager where she went on to retire from. Her most favorite title was Grandma when she finally was honored the role of grandmother in June of 1983.

She is survived by her siblings Mary Jane (Chuck) of Arizona, Judy (Harvey) of Oregon, William of Arizona, and Jenny (John) of Arizona. She is also survived by her children Debbie (Bill) of Michigan, Cathy of Arizona, Daniel (Lisa) of Utah, and Brian (Tracy) of Arizona. And 13 grandchildren, 26 great grandchildren and 1 on the way, and 1 great great grandchild. She is preceded in death by her parents, her loving husband, and her oldest daughter Cindy (Paul) of Arizona, and youngest son Darryl and his wife Julie of Arizona.

In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation.

Celebration of life to be scheduled at a later date.