The world has lost a very colorful person, Barbara Graham. She went to meet her heavenly Father on Friday, August 21, 2015. Her spirit remains alive on the thousands of canvases she laid a brush to during her lifetime, and in thousands more as she sits in front of her easel in heaven. Her autobiographical art piece includes the phrases "I am shaped by all that I love." (Goethe) and "I am a part of all that I have met." (Tennyson)

She was a loving, caring and adventurous woman who met her Prince Charming on a blind date. Her husband, Don, says that Barbara was the love of his life. They shared 64 years of happily ever after. They loved to go ballroom dancing so much that they built and managed Robin Hall, a party center, in Lakewood, Ohio for six years.

Barbara will be missed by Don and their nine children; Joe, Jonathan, Meg, Donnie, Jamie, Jan, Jay, Otto (Scott), and Lucky (William), and their many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Barbara believed that family was everything. Each of her children sincerely believe they were her favorite, and each of them is correct. She raised her children on Cheerios, Scrabble, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, camping and roller skating. The Graham household was a welcome haven for kids in the neighborhood, with some literally becoming part of the family and moving in for a while.

One of her greatest gifts to her family, friends, and the readers of the Cleveland Press, was a 9-week cross country trip to California with all nine children, by herself, in a mauve 1957 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. They had many adventures on the way to visit relatives in Palm Springs. The highlight of the trip was an appearance on Art Linkletter's House Party and a trip to Disneyland, and a color TV!

Besides being a mother extraordinaire, she squeezed in many creative activities including selling clothes through Bee Line Fashions, selling houses through Century 21, hosting the Barbara Graham TV show, decorating Christmas trees for Lighthouse Pools, delivering roses for Rose & Company, driving an ambulance, operating an interior design business, and much more.

Barbara had a happy life and was well loved. Her family knows that even generations down the line will carry with them some piece of her, which they may not realize has roots in the past: a worrying chocolate habit, a certain twinkle when they smile, an innate ability to pick up a paintbrush and make something fired by a spark deep inside. Barb certainly had an amazing spark to share with the world, and it will live on bright in the family she's raised and for generations to come.

Mass of Christian Burial Thursday August, 27, 2015, Church of St. Clarence (30106 Lorain Rd, North Olmsted, OH 44070) at 10:00 a.m. (MEET AT CHURCH). Private Inurnment Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, Rittman Ohio. In lieu of flowers, donations can be directed to her son's (Donnie Graham) ALS fundraising account: http://www.youcaring.com/donnie-graham-jr-417753 . Arrangements by CHAMBERS FUNERAL HOME OF NORTH OLMSTED. 216-251-6566. www.chambersfuneral.com