Barbara Ellen Milder

Barbara Ellen Milder (Harrison), 78, passed away unexpectedly on December 14, 2024, just a month shy of her 79th birthday. A lifelong resident of Los Alamos, Barbara was born on January 15, 1946, to Edwin and Polly Harrison (Gonzales) in the original World War II hospital adjacent to the Los Alamos Ranch School-era Ashley Pond. She was Edwin and Polly’s youngest child and only daughter. She graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1964.

Barb briefly moved to Albuquerque to study cosmetology. She received her cosmetology license in 1971 and then returned to Los Alamos, where she worked as a hairdresser for 15 years. During the last eight of those years, she was the proprietor of her own business—La Loma Beauty Salon—which was located in the Hilltop Shopping Center next to the Film Festival.

Barbara married Martin (Marty) Milder in 1973 in Las Vegas, NV. They raised their two sons, Dudley and Scott, in Los Alamos.

Barbara attended night school at UNM-LA while running La Loma Beauty Salon, and in 1986 she earned an Associates Degree in Computer Science, specializing in Graphics & Design Drafting. She went on to work as a design drafter at Los Alamos National Laboratory until her retirement in 2004.

Barbara was known to her friends and family for her no-nonsense perspective on life and her wry sense of humor. An avid reader, she was a fan of mystery novels and thrillers, and even as her eyesight began to fail in her later years she became a dedicated consumer of audiobooks. Endlessly creative, Barbara was an accomplished craftswoman, mastering the arts of sewing, crochet and quilting. She did some stained glass work, and recently even took up painting. Her family continues to cherish the many examples of her handiwork that she has left behind.

Barbara enjoyed her travels to Spain, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and many other places throughout the United States.

Barbara is survived by Marty Milder, her husband of 51 years; her sons Dudley (Michele) and Scott; grandson Xander (Haley); granddaughter Taylor, new great-granddaughter Madison; brothers-in-law Nelson and Ken Milder; sister-in-law Donna Ettkin (Larry); sister-in-law Judy (Kern) Harrison, nephews Eddie Harrison, Ken Harrison, Brian Ettkin, Seth Milder, and Craig Milder; and nieces Kelly (Harrison) Ahern, Cindy (Harrison) Bogue, and Vanessa (Ettkin) Asher.

Barbara was loved and is greatly missed by her close relatives, extended family, and many friends. These include high-school friend Connie White of Pasco, WA, Dave and Connie Schneider of Colorado Springs, CO; Larry and Lois Dauelsberg of Colorado Springs, CO; Lou and Huegette Schrank of Los Alamos;; and her special friend and “adopted niece” Suzanne Egan of Los Alamos, who was a great comfort to her in her later years as she coped with the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease.

Barbara refused to let her Parkinson’s diagnosis get her down. Starting in 2015, she volunteered as a docent at the Los Alamos History Museum. She developed a special fondness for the wonderful people with whom she worked, and she cherished her many interactions with visitors, both local and from around the world. Todd Nickols, her boss at the History Museum, always brought a smile to her face, and she admired him as friend and mentor.

A small and intimate ceremony was held on what would have been her 79th birthday at Rivera Family Funerals and Cremations in Española. A larger Celebration of Life open house will be held on Saturday, May 17, 2025, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at the Hans Bethe House at the Los Alamos History Museum.

Rivera Family Funeral Home of Los Alamos would like to thank the family of Barbara Milder for their trust.