Barbara Jo Erickson, age 77, originally from Fergus Falls, Minnesota, died Wednesday, March 5, 2025 in Los Altos, California.

Barbara was born on October 4, 1947 in Breckenridge, MN, the daughter of Harold and Shirley Erickson.  She attended grade school in Fergus Falls and graduated from high school in 1966. She first attended the University of Minnesota and then completed a Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics Education at North Dakota State University in 1971.

After a courtship that began in the clarinet section of the high school band, Barbara and Neil Gloier were married on September 18, 1971 in Fergus Falls. They moved to the East Coast soon after where she taught in Connecticut and at the FDA near Washington D.C.  Neil was with the NOAA and soon after their first son Matt was born in September 1973, Neil and Barbara were re-stationed in the Pacific Northwest.  While living in Seattle Barbara gave birth to their second son, Nathan, in 1977.

Having studied clothing and fashion design and with an eye for color, Barbara’s son Matt noted that had his mother taken a different path, she would have had a successful career in fashion and design. Instead, she decided to devote her life to her boys. Thus followed new home- designed and sewn Halloween costumes, camping trips, birthday parties, holiday meals…. All organized with great care and attention to detail.

In addition to her loving parenting skills, introducing her sons to music, Barbara enjoyed singing alto in her church choir.  Ever exercising her creative spirit, she took up photography in her later years. Close-ups of flowers as her medium, her photos were abstract compositions of art.

As Matt and Nathan entered adulthood, their parents divorced in 1990. Barbara lived in California near Matt who supported her until her death in 2025. She was laid to rest with her family in Fergus Falls on June 21, 2025.