Barbara Urschel, caught looking up
By Holaday Mason
My mother, Barbara Mason- Urschel was born 4/30/1928 in Racine, Wisconsin to Marjery and Nick Burrell. She and her older brother Jim were raised in Madison, Wisconsin near Lake Wingra park which inscribed in her a love for the beauty of the natural world, a love she carried all her life.
Barbara earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Madison and later a graduate degree in Los Angeles where she moved after marrying her first husband Jack Mason with whom she had two children: Reid Mason and Holaday Mason.
She worked for 30 years as a teacher and later as a school psychologist in the LA city school system. She loved giving to children and continued to mentor kids until the last year of her life.
In 1981 Barbara wed her beloved William Urschel in the back garden of a friend in Anacortes. She and Bill lived and were cherished in the Orcas Island community. They fostered and were committed participants in the arts and in humanistic work promoting spiritual and interpersonal growth such as Non-Violent Communication.
She was a free spirit who valued above all other things growth and true intimate connections in relationships. She drew this out of others and cultivated it.
Barbara was a natural artist who all her life drew and painted. She experimented with different visual art mediums with great passionate gusto. Her interaction with artistic self-expression was congruent with her desire for a true intimacy in living.
Mother’s love, William Urschel passed away in 2002 and she remained on Orcas tenaciously enjoying the beauty of the island and building a life on her own which included a book chronicling Bill’s death called “From Grief to Grace.”
Barbara’s death, at the Spring Equinox on March 21, 2011, left her two grown children, Reid Mason and Holaday Mason, as well as her stepdaughters, Susan Winters and Nancy Reas in a world less bright for having lost a beloved mother and true friend.
If you feel so called, please join us in celebration honoring her sweet and lovely spirit and her life at 6:30 p.m. Thursday June 30 at The Ocras Island Senior Center.
Thank you and blessings in light.
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So very sorry a friend slipped away, and I didn’t even know about it all this time. Am so sorry. I was looking forward to moving back to Orcas one day, and always assumed I’d hear Barbara’s infectious laugh once again. What a loss. Wish I could make the celebration. I will think of her and Bill as well, and I’m sure he was among the many who rushed down to claim her once she passed.
I met Barbara more than 20 years ago at a group at the Healing Arts Center – the most recent when we were in a group of Nancy’s doing EFT. We shared many things over the years, art and spiritual growth being the two constant. I loved that she kept growing and learning and being open her whole life. She was always exploring herself and the world around her, in this quiet way she was a mentor and guide for me. ‘Oh, this is how you can age-like Barbara does!’ So beautifully and gracefully. I never looked at her without being struck by her beauty and clarity. I can see her lovely eyes with the dark ring around them as clear as day. I miss her! She was well loved my so many of us on Orcas!
Barbara came late into my life; just the last few years.
OH how my heart wishes she was sitting on the chair in our chair yoga class. We all miss her. I was privileged to have one on one classes with her and we became fast friends. There was so much giving that she did all the time in so many ways. She give deep into my heart and it will stay there.
In Divine Friendship. Blessings to the family.
i am so sorry to hear this sad news. i knew barbara briefly through her connection with dogs for the deaf. although i didn’t know her well, the time i spent with her had an impact on me. her spirit, warmth and openness were truly inspiring. i will miss her. my heart goes out to her family.