Obituary of Barbara Jean Edmonds

Barbara Jean Edmonds passed away April 15, 2024, in Ione, CA at the age of 74. She was born on December 2, 1949, in Oakland, California to the late Irvin and Marion (Cullinane) Muratore.

Barbara was raised in Walnut Creek, CA, along with her older brother Mike and younger sister Mary Ann. In 1972 she married Steve Edmonds, and they made their home in the East Bay communities of Martinez and then Clayton, before relocating to Amador County above Volcano in the mid-1980s, where they raised their two daughters, Jennifer and Andrea – instilling in them strong work ethic, leadership qualities, and kindness toward others.

Barbara was an adventure-lover and travel-enthusiast. Following her retirement from Mule Creek State Prison in 2004, Barbara and Steve purchased a motorhome and traveled the country from coast to coast – and ventured both north and south of the border as well.

In 2020, Barbara and Steve relocated to a home on Castle Oaks Golf Course in Ione where Barbara enjoyed summer days lounging in her long-awaited backyard pool and golfing, and during basketball season cheering on her beloved Sacramento Kings.  In 2022, Barbara and Steve took the family on a trip to an oceanfront villa in Nayarit, Mexico, in celebration of their

50th Wedding Anniversary.  This past fall, Barbara and her daughters traveled across Ireland visiting distant family and places of importance to Barbara’s maternal family history.

A devout Catholic, Barbara was an active member of St. Katharine Drexel Parish.

Barbara had such a warm and engaging personality that you couldn’t help but smile in her presence. If you had the pleasure of meeting her, you felt you were all the better for it.  She was a phenomenal wife, mother, and “Nana.”  Whatever activities her “grands” were into, she was

into – be it basketball, soccer, baseball, musical theater, shooting, gymnastics, dance, horses, or volleyball. She will be greatly missed by the many friends and family who loved her for the kind and wonderful person she was.

In 1999, Barbara was diagnosed with breast cancer, but fought back with her strong mind, body, soul, and faith (and modern medicine), and beat the disease the following year. In 2008 she was diagnosed with uterine cancer, but once again defeated the illness. But cancer is a terrible and crafty foe and a quarter century later returned in terminal form.