Barbara A. Draigh

Barbara Draigh, age 79 of Ada, loving wife, mother and grandmother, passed away Monday February 8, 2016.  Barb was born to Otto and Gertrude Baehre at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.  Her sister, Nancy, was five years old.  She grew up on Oakleigh Road in Northwest Grand Rapids.  She attended Oakleigh School, then Central High School for grades 10, 11 and 12.  She earned a degree in education at the University of Michigan, where she was a member of Alpha Phi Sorority.  During a college spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, she met Dick in the Elbow Room, and they had a wonderful marriage of 57 years.  She taught at Hillcrest School before Dick’s Army service sent them to Huntsville, Alabama, where she also taught.  When they returned to Grand Rapids, she taught at Alexander and Alger Schools until David was born, when she retired for 17 years to be a stay at home mom to David and Peter.  She felt so fortunate to be able to do that, and was much more than a stay at home mom.  She was dedicated to her wide ranging volunteer work.  She co-chaired the committee that started Westminster Child Development Center in 1969.  She was a member of the Junior League, Marion Cornelius Steketee Guild.  She volunteered at school, the museums, at Blandford Nature Center and served for 10 years on the Forest Hills School Board, where she was always fighting to improve the educational experience for the district’s students.  She loved being a docent for 25 years at Frank Lloyd Wright Meyer May house and returned to part-time teaching when David and Peter went to college.  She loved the cottage where weekends with the kids and their friends were so special and she loved seeing them have such fun.  Also special was Watervale, where she had been a waitress during the summer after her junior year at Michigan, and which she visited with various members of her expanding family each summer thereafter.  She had special memories of visits to the farm with cousins when she was growing up, as well as of visits to the Hiawatha Club in the summer.  Barb adored and was proud of her boys and her grandkids, Hannah and Jonathan, who were very special to her.  Living in the same town (almost), she enjoyed their school activities, as well as their time together.  Knitting, gardening, reading, and friends were pleasures.  Especially friends.  She was blessed with so many.  And they were blessed with her.  Barbara was predeceased by a baby girl, who died shortly after birth.  She is survived by her husband Dick, sons David, Peter (Lynn) and grandchildren Hannah and Jonathan.  We loved her and will miss her dearly.  A memorial service will be held 11:00 A.M. Friday February 12, 2016 at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 47 Jefferson Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to ALS of West Michigan.  

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