Barbara Bordeaux, 80, of Mission, SD passed away on Sunday, November 26th, 2023 at the Winner Regional Health Care Center in Winner, SD. A memorial service will be held on Friday, December 29th, 2023 at 2:00PM at the Bishop Jones Building in Mission, SD. Visitation will be starting at 10:00AM at the Bishop Jones Building in Mission, SD.

Barbara was born on March 13, 1943, to Mervyn and Vesta Colombe at the Rosebud Hospital. She grew up in a large family on the Colombe Ranch east of Mission near Haystack Butte. Barbara attended school in Mission and graduated from Todd County High School in 1961.

She married Lionel R. Bordeaux and together they had four children, Debbie, Scott, Brian, and Shawn. While Lionel attended college at Black Hills Teachers College, Barbara and Debbie lived in Rosebud where Barbara worked at the Community Action Program Office.  During their early years, Barbara and Lionel lived in Washington, DC; Dulce, NM; Dallas, TX, Pine Ridge, SD; Vermillion, SD; and Minneapolis, MN before moving home to Rosebud in 1973.

In August of 2023, Barbara completed 49 years as a paralegal at Dakota Plains Legal Services.  A modest estimate would indicate that Barbara served 5,000 members of her community during her tenure there.  She possessed a tremendous work ethic and an expertise of the law.

Each year, Barbara relished the coming of spring and the opportunity to be outside, tending her flowers and her yard. She often turned to HGTV for inspiration about her yard and her home. She loved to golf, spending many summers on the links. Her favorite pro, Payne Stewart, was among the golfers she often watched on TV.  She enjoyed following local basketball games and could often be found in the bleachers at events featuring young athletes at every level from Elementary through High School.  She liked watching football and was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys.  Barbara was a patron of the Arts, especially Native American Art.  She served as a board member of the Northern Plains Tribal Arts, helping to sponsor their annual juried Art Show and Market in Sioux Falls, SD.

Barbara enjoyed helping people. She was a strong, loving woman with a bright and infectious laugh.  She was a spiritual person who cherished her family and friends.   She began her journey to the spirit world on November 26, 2023. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents Mervyn and Vesta, husband Lionel, son Scott, brothers George 'Tuck', Charles, and James Colombe, and sisters Sylvia Farmer and Elaine Jones.  She is survived by her daughter Debbie, sons Brian and Shawn, and numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren, brothers Robert, Richard, and Wayne Colombe, and sister Patricia Menck.