Obituary of Barbara Ann South

BARBARA ANN (MUTH) SOUTH

Barbara Ann (Muth) South, 94, of Mountain Home, passed away Wednesday August 3, 2022, at The Cottages in Mountain Home. Cremation is under the direction of Rost Funeral Home in Mountain Home, Idaho.

Barbara was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on March 21, 1928, to Merlin W. and Luella Muth. She grew up in McCall, Idaho with her mother and stepfather Melvin (Brownie) Hoff. After graduating from McCall High School, she attended the University of Idaho where she was a PROUD member of Delta Gamma Sorority. She made lifelong friends with her sorority sisters and attended many Delta Gamma reunions over her lifetime. After college she married her high school sweetheart, George South in McCall, Idaho on June 20, 1948. They made McCall their home and welcomed their four children, Susan, Patricia (Tish), Charles (Sam) and Tom. In 1962, the family relocated to Glenns Ferry, Idaho. After her youngest child started school, she began teaching at Glenns Ferry Junior High, continued college at Boise State and received her teaching degree in the summer of 1969. The family relocated to Mountain Home, Idaho in 1970 and she continued her teaching, first at Mountain Home Air Force Base and then at Mountain Home Junior High until her retirement in 1988. George and Barbara divorced in 1991 and she relocated to Boise in 1992. Retirement was busy for Barbara as she was an avid golfer and skier in the winter, well into her late seventies. In fact, there were several times in late spring where she would drive to Bogus, ski for a couple hours only to come down the ski hill and play golf the same day. Barbara also spent a lot of her time doing volunteer work for both her Church, Cathedral of the Rockies, and the Junior League Thrift Shop. Barbara was also an accomplished watercolor artist. Her paintings adorn the walls of her children’s and grandchildren’s homes. In addition to her Delta Gamma reunions, she was a regular attendee at the McCall High School reunions. In 2011 while attending the reunion she reconnected with former school mate James (Jim) Hamrick and they were married in Murphy, Idaho June of 2012. Jim was a great addition to the family and an even greater caregiver to Barbara the last years prior to her passing. As her grandson Greg stated, “Barbara was an awesome lady”. She was a fantastic mother who took great care of her children. She will always be in our hearts.

Barbara is survived by her husband Jim Hamrick of Meridian and son Tom (Wanda) South of Boise. Six grandchildren, Melissa (Jarod) Mazzullo of Nampa, Josh (Heather) Starkey of Kent, WA, Patrick (Kim) Starkey of Boise, Alyson Anderson of Seattle, WA, Greg (Carly) South of Charlotte, NC and Katie (Derek) Rudel of Boise. Eleven great grand-children, Nikolas Mazzullo, Matthew, Madison, Coraline, Caden and Eloise Starkey, Harper, Louella and Woodford South, Margot and Henry Rudel. She was preceded in death by her parents, Merlin W. Muth, Brownie and Luella Hoff, her first husband George South and children Susan, Tish and Sam.

The family would like to thank the staff at The Cottage Care Center in Mountain Home and the staff of First Hospice for their care and support for Barbara in her end of life.