Barbara passed away unexpectedly leaving family and friends in shock. She had gone to the hospital for a brief procedure hoping to return home the same day so that she could celebrate Christmas with her family. Sadly, there were complications and she was not able to come home.
Barbara was married to her loving husband, Donald Jeff Skaggs, shortly after graduating from high school in 1979. In 2019, they were able to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas. Her husband, Jeff, passed away in May of 2020, leaving a great void in her life, but now they are reunited.
She started school at Meadow Homes in Concord, then moved to the San Ramon school district at the end of elementary school. She and her husband were avid in racing at the Antioch Speedway, taking turns each year with one driving and the other on the pit crew. Barbara always had a love of racing that she got from her dad. She was a teacher for Oakley school district, Oakley Elementary. Her students loved her, and she loved them. She had a talent for kids, she just had that teacher ‘voice’. Kids listened to her and she enjoyed watching them learn and grow. Many students came back over the years to thank her, which meant very much to her.
Barbara was on the Flag team in high school, participating at football games and parades, and was also on several bowling leagues at Danville Bowl. She liked to do arts and crafts and made scrapbooks for her kids. She took several classes at Los Medanos College while pregnant and working, never shying away from hard work.
She loved to go anywhere – out to dinner, movies, driving trips, up to the mountains to camp at Calaveras with her mom, dad, and sister; Then in later years with her husband and kids, and in later years grandkids. Shortly before her death, she was planning with her sister to take the family on a trip to Calaveras in the summer of 2022. She was very outgoing and loved talking with people. Her favorite birthday cake was always from Mike’s pastry shop. Every year, everyone’s birthday cake had to be from there.
Barbara is survived by her parents, Walter “Butch” Fletcher and Betsy Ohran Fletcher; her sister Kathy Fletcher Olund and her brother-in-law Dave Olund; her son, Jeff Skaggs, Jr., and her daughter-in-law Mallory; her daughter Melissa Skaggs; her three grandchildren – William, Gage and Codie, whom she had guardianship of, adored, and was raising along with her husband before his passing, as well as extended family and in-laws.
She was preceded in death by her husband Jeff Skaggs Sr., her grandmother Beth whom she shared a five-generation photo with, as well as many other relatives. She has left a void in our heart and will be greatly missed by all her family and many friends.
A viewing will be at Higgins Funeral Chapel on A Street in Antioch on January 20 from 11 a.m. to noon. Graveside service at Union Cemetery in Brentwood is at 1 p.m., followed by a gathering after cemetery service at Higgins at 3 p.m.
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