Barbara Jean Price

Barbara Jean Price (Campbell) died peacefully at the age of 75 on February 15th at the Foothills Hospital. She is survived by her daughter Kristin Price, her life partner and noble friend Diana Law, her five siblings, Marjie (George) Brookman, Reid (Kathy) Campbell, Karen (Dale) Ronnenberg, Brenda Campbell, and Debbie (Eric) Weitzman. She also leaves many cherished nieces and nephews. Barbara is predeceased by her father, Walter Graham Campbell (1973) and her mother, Margaret Mable Campbell (1986). 

Barbara was born in Edmonton on May 31st, 1948 and later moved to Calgary where she attended Henry Wisewood High School. After high school, she graduated from St. Michael’s General Hospital School of Nursing in Lethbridge and later received her Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Calgary. In 1995, she completed her Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration at the University of Alberta. Barbara had a very accomplished career in health care. She was a visionary and ahead of her time in her approach to health care.  She was one of the first Nurse Practitioners in Alberta to work at the Pediatric Oncology Clinic at the Foothills Hospital, and she then went on to be the first nurse clinician in the country to be hired as a consultant to work alongside architects on the planning and design of health care facilities. This came about as Barbara was involved in the commissioning of the Peter Lougheed Hospital. She then decided she wanted to plan hospitals. After being hired as the first consultant, she went on to plan and design, The Alberta Children’s Hospital, as well as other clinical facilities throughout AB. Barbara was also involved in the planning and design of the new Calgary Cancer Centre at the Foothills as well as the new hospice that is being built in Canmore. In 1991, she received the first ever Ralph Coombs Award.

Barbara was a remarkable spirit with a passion for music and the arts. She was the Choir Leader at Riverview United Church, a church of which her father was a founding member.  She was also a passionate and committed volunteer and member of her community.  She was a founding member of the Palliative Care Society of the Bow Valley and critical to its development and implementation. She served as Secretary to the board of the society and chaired the Capital Projects Committee. She also was the project lead for the PCSBV Resource Guide. Barbara spent countless hours volunteering and in 2019 she received the 30th Annual Mayor’s Award for Volunteer Excellence in Canmore.

The family would like to say a special thank you to Dr. Clarence Guenter for his guidance and advice, the incredible staff at the Foothills Hospital on Unit 102 where she spent close to 5 weeks as a patient, then Unit 54 where she received excellent Palliative care in her last days, & the Threshold Choir of Canmore.

There will be no funeral at this time. A celebration of life will be held in the spring. 

In remembrance of Barbara’s exceptional life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to the Palliative Care Society of the Bow Valley.

“Leading is not always done from the front of the herd”

'Seal Lullaby' 

by Eric Whitacre 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxTghSZupv8

Oh, hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us

And black are the waters that sparkled so green

The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us

At rest in the hollows that rustle between

Where billow meets billow, then soft be thy pillow

Oh weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease

The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee

Asleep in the arms of the slow swinging seas

Asleep in the arms

Of the slow swinging seas