Barbara Ann Fleming

Barbara Ann (Mehlhoff) Fleming, 80, of Great Falls, passed away peacefully on January 15, 2021, at home. No services will be held at this time.The family looks forward to a gathering to celebrate her life with family and friends, this spring/summer, around her birthday, her favorite time of the year. Barbara was born at the old Deaconess Hospital on May 11, 1940, in Great Falls, Montana to Herbert “Bud” and Helen Mehlhoff. She attended Roosevelt Elementary school, Paris Gibson Junior High, and graduated from Great Falls High School in 1958.After high school, she worked at JC Penney Department store. In 1962, Barb married Jim Johnsrud. They welcomed their first daughter, Lori, in 1962 and in 1966 their second daughter, Roxene, was born. After Lori’s birth, Barbara became a full-time mother and homemaker. Barbara and Jim started Jim’s Dive Shop in the early 1970s. They sold scuba gear and taught scuba diving lessons in Great Falls together until Jim’s passing in 1976. In 1977, Barbara met and married Steve Fleming. Steve was also a scuba diving enthusiast and instructor as well as a member of the Cascade County Search and Rescue Scuba Team under then Sheriff John Kursul. Steve and Barbara continued to run the dive shop together along with teaching scuba lessons for many years. Barbara loved the outdoors and enjoyed camping with her young family.After Jim’s passing, she and Steve continued to enjoy camping and scuba diving. They took a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Hawaii and a couple of trips to Las Vegas for some fun and R&R. After Roxene graduated high school, Barbara went to work with Steve at Accounts Management Corporation as Secretary/Treasurer then later as Vice President. Barb was involved in Credit Professionals International (CPI) and was named Credit Professional of the Year in 1985. Throughout her years at Accounts Management Barbara formed many strong friendships with employees and clients. Barb was quite the social butterfly and enjoyed long lunches with clients, friends, and co-workers. She worked alongside Steve until they were both able to retire in 2014. Barb and Steve enjoyed several years of retirement at home with their beloved bulldog, Abby. She loved working in the yard and planting flowers in every color of the rainbow. She was extremely creative and artistic and spent hours decorating the home with her beautiful ideas. She and Steve spent hours in the backyard relaxing and admiring the garden of flowers, the outdoor lights, and the pond year-round. If it were calm and sunny out, no matter the season, she could be found outside relaxing and enjoying the birds living in one of the many birdhouses she collected. Anyone who knew Barbara knew she loved spending every moment with her family. She was always ready to attend any dinner and holiday gathering, and always looked forward to the next event. She and Steve had many 4th of July, Labor Day, and birthday parties at their home as well. She absolutely loved to entertain and enjoyed having as many people gathered around her as she could. She was an excellent cook who made some dishes none of the rest of us could ever master.All of her grandkids always looked forward to going to grandma’s house for her deep-fried French toast. Barbara’s family was her life’s passion and brought her endless joy. She doted on her grandchildren, Mariah, Tucker, Dylan and Dalton. She spent hours attending baseball, basketball, and football games for Tucker and Dalton, and horseback competitions for Mariah and Dylan. Barbara was the best kind of mom, grandma, and great-grandmother anyone could have ever asked for. She was loved by everyone she met, and she cherished each and every person she crossed paths with. To know her was to love her! Barbara was an extremely classy lady, and her fashion sense was like no other. She had beautiful style and will always be remembered for how incredible she always looked and dressed even after she retired. She was also known for her love of anything with “bling.” More flash and sparkle was better! She even had a small side business called “Barb’s Bling” with which she had a lot of fun. Barb treasured her friends, especially her girlfriends in her Yaya group with whom she shared decades of lasting friendship. She eagerly looked forward to their monthly social and special holiday gatherings. Barb was also an avid sports fan and would regularly watch baseball and football on TV. She was a fan of Derek Jeter and Tom Brady, and she had a friendly rivalry with her grandsons when they would watch games together. Survivors include her loving husband of 44 years, Steve Fleming; daughters, Lori (Tim) Trafford and Roxene (Brad) Pinsonneault; sisters, Bonnie (Bud) Talbott and Chris (Jan) Niemeyer; brother, Jim (Pam) Mehlhoff; grandchildren, Mariah Trafford, Tucker (Sarah) Cook, Dylan Trafford, and Dalton Cook; and great-grandchildren, Lincoln and Georgia Cook. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert and Helen Mehlhoff. May the winds of heaven blow softly and whisper in your ear How much we love you and wish you were here If anyone wants to make a donation in her name please donate to the Great Falls Firefighters Local 8 Charitable Fund Website: iafflocal8.unionactive.com Direct donation link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=XCGZKZDZNWMYS&source=url If you would like to mail in a donation the address is GFFR Local 8 Charitable Donation Fund PO Box 7256, Great Falls, MT. 59406