A local woman known for spreading joy to the local seniors community is being remembered as a person who was dedicated to improving the mental well-being of the elderly in Barrie and Simcoe County.
Barb Richards, who founded A Senior Wish Association and was also the voice behind A Touch of Class Auctions, died Friday. She was 80.
Krista Richards described her mother as being well loved by everyone who knew her.
“So many people called her 'Mom'. We shared her with the community and so many people,” she told BarrieToday on Saturday.
“She was an incredible energy and it’s really hard to understand that loss of energy in the world," Richards added. "Knowing the impact that she made, and the amazing amount of phone calls and messages, has been so overwhelming and so comforting that it’s made it all a little easier to deal with."
Barb Richards was born in Toronto and raised by the Pugsley family, her adoptive parents, in Hawkestone on the shores of Lake Simcoe, north of Barrie.
She attended a one-room schoolhouse with her older brother and younger sister, who have since passed away.
Barb Richards, widely known for her work as an auctioneer and appraiser since 1986, was also involved with many fundraising and charitable events throughout her career. She started A Senior Wish Association in 2011 with 100 seniors. That number has grown to 3,500 who are helped by its programs.
The charity tackles the problem of isolation among seniors, which is the largest demographic of citizens in Simcoe County.
In their first year, the charity gave Christmas presents to 75 seniors, and it has now grown to reach thousands of elderly people who otherwise would have been alone or forgotten.
Linda Muszynski, a director at Grove Park Home in north-end Barrie, described Richards as "a superhero for seniors, with her groundbreaking work and creative ideas to help seniors, and that she pushed hard until she got what she wanted for them."
Richards was also able to include "world champion" among her titles. During her auctioneering career, she was a trailblazer, as one of the first women auctioneers in Canada. She was a two-time world champion women's auctioneer, served as a president of the Auctioneers Association of Ontario, and ran her own successful auction house, A Touch of Class Auctions, which serves customers across Canada and internationally.
From the late 1970s to the late 1990s, Richards also worked at Georgian College where she ran non-traditional programs for women and worked as a manager for the college’s co-op education and career success department, including for the Automotive Business School of Canada.
Richards had recently started writing a book about her life, called Hawkestone Girl, which her family says they plan to publish in the future.
Visitation will be held at Liberty North, located in south-end Barrie at 100 Caplan Dr., on Friday, Sept. 8 from 5-8 p.m., and on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 10 a.m. until noon. The funeral service is scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday, with a reception following.
