Barbara Ann Robison Dunn

Barbara Ann Robison Dunn, daughter of Charles William Omar Robison and Mary Adeline Roberts, joined her family in heaven for Christmas on Wednesday, December 25, 2024, at age 94. She was surrounded by those who love her and call her mom. We are sad she is gone from us, but so happy for the anticipated family reunion she is experiencing.

Barbara was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 28, 1930, into a loving home with wonderful parents. She grew up during the Great Depression and the things she experienced and learned in her parents’ home during that time helped to shape her. Her parents showed and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, the value of hard work and how to plan and save for the future. She always said, her childhood was hard but later in life she came to appreciate the values they taught her, and she applied these values throughout her own life.

She loved her Savior and had the blessing of the gospel in her life from birth. Barbara always felt this was one of her greatest blessings. Growing up in Oklahoma, she and her brothers sang duets in church, “we were good too, we sang all of the old favorites,” she would tell us. She was a woman of great faith and had a strong testimony of the power of prayer, we always knew as a family that she was praying for all of us, and that God answered her prayers. 

She modeled, was a dancer, and enjoyed her high school sorority, the Damsels. These activities helped build her self-confidence. Barbara graduated from Will Rogers High School.

At age 18, her parents put her on a train to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University. She studied for 4 years with a major in Secretarial Training and a minor in Psychology. During her last year at BYU, she met Ted Dunn on a blind date. Two weeks later they were at a dance in Salt Lake City where the Stan Kenton’s Orchestra was playing. While the band was playing, “We’ll Build a Bungalow,” Ted turned to Barbara and said, “Let’s get married and build a bungalow together.”

They were married in Provo, Utah on February 7, 1953. At the time, Ted was serving in the army at Fort Ord in California and called Barbara to tell her he couldn’t get leave for the wedding. She told him, “You better make it happen,” and fortunately he did. Her brother Chad flew in for the wedding on a Navy fighter jet and buzzed down Center Street in Provo and scared the entire city to death. This was his way of telling their dad that he was ready to be picked up at Hill Air Force Base.

Ted and Barbara moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma where they started their family. The family then moved to Dallas, Texas and were living there when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was a very sad and unsettling time in Dallas and across the United States. They also lived in Cottonwood Heights, Draper, and Lehi, Utah. Ted and Barbara and their family were sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Logan Temple on August 4, 1964. 

Whenever someone was sick or going through a trial, it seemed Barbara was often the first to show up with a warm meal. She was blessed with good health, and a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, and of living prophets. Barbara knew all the hymns, she never had to use a hymn book, she could sing all the verses by memory. She served as a Relief Society President and Counselor, Young Women’s Counselor and teacher, Cub Scout Leader, and primary teacher, on the family history committee, and as welfare committee chairman. For many years she was actively involved in indexing names for the Family History program of the Church often waking up at 6 am to begin. She was the first volunteer to index over 1,000,000 names and received a personal phone call from a representative of President Thomas S. Monson to thank her for her dedication and service. Barbara also loved volunteering and serving during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

She loved to travel particularly if there was sun and a beach involved (Charleston, Hilton Head, Cancun, Coronado, Hawaii, etc.) If you knew Barbara, she always found time to sit in the sun or go swimming in a pool or, her favorite the ocean. We would hear her sing, “Just me and my ocean,” as she would swim way too far out from the shore. She also loved Broadway plays and on one trip to New York she took in 5 Broadway plays including her all-time favorite, Les Misérables. 

Her most treasured possessions are her 5 children, sons, and daughters in law, 22 grandchildren, and 51 great grandchildren and we all love and adore her. Our family had many great parties and get-togethers in their home. Especially on Christmas Eve with music, dancing, and great food. 

Barbara is preceded in death by her husband, Ted; parents, Charles William Omar, and Mary Adeline Robison; brothers LaVaughn (Robby), Charles William (Chad), Maurice Gene (Jim), and Sister Martha Carol; former son-in-law, Scott John MacKay; granddaughters Katie Lynn Dunn and Emily Jean Thevenin; and great granddaughters Savannah Faith Salisbury and Madison Grace Salisbury. She is survived by her Brother Robert Theodore (Bob); and her children Robin Salisbury (Rick), Tina Cram (Reid), Mitchell Dunn (Angela), Cheri Winebrenner (Drew), and Carter Dunn.

Funeral services will be Friday, January 3, 2025, at 12:00 PM at Anderson & Goff Mortuary, 11859 S. 700 E., Draper. A viewing for family members will be at 11:00 AM before the funeral. Burial afterwards at Draper City Cemetery, 949 E Pioneer Road, Draper, Utah.

The service will be livestreamed on the Anderson & Goff Mortuary Facebook Page at the following link: 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Funeral-Service---Cemetery/Anderson-Goff-Mortuary-293949407707203/

(The livestream video will appear when the service starts.)