Barbara Arnest Obituary

Barbara Arnest passed away February 15, 2017 following a brief illness. She was born Barbara Maurin on September 2, 1923, in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and had lived in Colorado Springs since 1957.

In 1941 she won the V.F.W. Ladies Auxiliary national patriotic essay contest with her entry, "One Nation Indivisible." The monetary award enabled her to attend the University of Minnesota. The education changed her life path; plus, she often mentioned that she didn't know whom in Fergus Falls she could have married. (She kept her sense of humor to the end.)

As a reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune, she interviewed Bernard Arnest for a story on up-and-coming artists. She knew after that interview that she wanted to marry him, and a few months later, she did.

Barbara edited Colorado College's alumni magazine from 1960 to 1975, during which time it won numerous regional awards and, in 1970, the Atlantic Award for the nation's best college alumni magazine.

Showing dogs - chiefly Samoyeds - was the passion of her later years. Collectively, her dogs earned three championships and six obedience titles. The highlight of her career in the dog ring was an invitation to the 2001 Westminster Dog Show to show her Samoyed, Puckett.

She never lost her connection to academia, however, serving as president of Colorado College's Women's Educational Society in the 1990s.

Last but not necessarily least, Barbara drank some 40,000 martinis at a steady pace of two a day for about six decades, proving the power of persistence.

She is survived by her children, Paul, Lisa Mondori, and Mark, and three grandchildren.

A memorial is planned for the summer. In lieu of flowers, please donate in her name to the Millibo Art Theatre, 1626 S. Tejon St. Colorado Springs, CO 80905 (www.themat.org), or to Suncrest Hospice (www.suncrestcare.com).