Fond memories of Barbara Dunlop from Portadown, 'a beautiful person inside and out'

Barbara was born in Portadown on April 12,1935 to Sarah and David Medlow and had an older sister, Beatrice.

Tragically, her mother passed away when Barbara was just one year old. However, when her father eventually remarried six years later, she adored her stepmother, Mary, as well as the five brothers and three sisters with which Mary blessed her - Winifred, Jim, Margaret, Wilfred, David, Gerard, Maureen and Harold.

She spent her childhood in Woodview Avenue, Portadown and attended Church Street school before leaving at the age of 14. She began employment with Savoy Bakery, then moved on to Cullen and Davidson’s, making headache powders and then on to the Metal Box where tin cans for canned goods were manufactured.

Barbara met her future husband, Tommy at a social at the age of 23 and they married six years later on June 6,1964 at St Mark’s Church, Portadown. The first marital home was in Hartfield Avenue where they both welcomed their first child, Rosemary, in July 1965.

In 1970, they moved to Killicomaine where Barbara was blessed with another daughter that same year, Sharon, as well as two more daughters, Gillian in 1975 and finally Lisa in 1979.

Barbara was always a very loving, caring and maternal lady and was only too happy to be a full-time homemaker. Indeed, by the time she became a first-time mother herself, she had already gained a wealth of invaluable experience from supporting Mary with raising her younger siblings.

However, as Barbara’s children grew, she also enjoyed other work to boost the family income and provided cleaning services to the Eakin family who owned a successful jewellers for many years in Portadown.

On June 1,1985, her health took a very unexpected, downward turn. At the age of just 50, she suffered a massive stroke at home then sometime after, a lighter one in hospital.

However, she defied the odds of survival with great courage, strength and tenacity; the very hallmark of her character. The resulting permanent disability was obviously very challenging especially in terms of maintaining a hands-on role as mother and matriarch within the family. However, despite speech and language difficulties, paralysis on the right side of her body and mobility issues, her strength of character, her sheer determination to maintain some semblance of independence, and her loving and affectionate nature more than compensated.

She was also blessed with the loving support of Tommy and their four daughters especially Rosemary who bravely took up the mantle of life-long carer at just 20 years old.

Barbara had always prayed that she would live long enough to be a grandmother and thankfully, those prayers were answered when she was further blessed with six grandchildren, Stuart, Lauren, Christopher, Simon and twins, Logan and Dakota.

Barbara will be forever remembered as a beautiful person, both inside and out. She always took pride in her appearance and was very particular about things. This was much to the amusement of her daughters since their father, Tommy was much more easy-going. But, it is said that ‘opposites attract’. Indeed, if Tommy were still with us, he and their four daughters would wholeheartedly agree that she always did ‘rule the roost’!

However, there were certainly characteristics that they both shared; being honest, hardworking people of great integrity who always endeavoured to make home life as happy and comfortable as possible.

Like Tommy, Barbara could also be very funny and often had everyone laughing with her sharp wit and quick delivery.

She was truly resilient with such a will to live even into her autumn years with declining health that was unfortunately an inevitable legacy of the strokes suffered years before. This remarkable longevity of 89 years cultivated within us similar feelings that Theresa May expressed about the late Queen upon her death.

We knew this day was coming but, in our heart of hearts, we hoped it never would.