Becky Christensen Barlow

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend, Becky Christensen Barlow. Becky died peacefully on May 26, 2026, in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age eighty-two, surrounded by her dear husband, Kay, and their children, following a traumatic brain injury one week prior.

Becky was a lover of words, yet words cannot express all that she meant to us, nor our grief at her loss. As one of her grandchildren recently expressed, “She IS love.” Anyone who had the privilege of knowing Becky Barlow knows that she was always focused on serving others, both inside and outside of her family. Innumerable are the meals she prepared, the bedside visits she made, the gifts thoughtfully given (often treasure-hunted from yard sales), and waffles cooked on a Sunday night.

Becky was a living radar for human need. She remembered everyone’s favorite things and loved to delight her dear ones by surprising them with a favorite treat or item. In particular, Becky had a special love for children. You might call it magic, actually. Even in her eighties, she loved to get on the floor and play with her great-grandchildren. Each child who came into our family knew, without a doubt, that Nana loved them. She loved broadly and deeply.

Becky was born on April 29, 1944, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Robert Oscar Christensen and Ethel Taggart. She was the second of five children: Karen (died October 2025), Becky, Robert, Norma, and Charles. She grew up in Bountiful, Utah and graduated from Bountiful High School in 1962.

Becky first met Kay Barlow when she attended South Davis Junior High. Years later that friendship blossomed into a romance for the ages. Becky and Kay were married in the Logan, Utah temple on May 10, 1963. Ten months later, they had their first son, Alan. Sixteen months later, Brad was born, followed by Steven and David. Several years later, Becky and Kay welcomed their niece, Becky, into their home, and she became a daughter to them. Becky loved being a mother and even had fond memories of cleaning cloth diapers and hanging them to dry on the clothesline.

For Becky, the only thing that could top motherhood was grandmotherhood, and in that regard, she was the best of the best. Her posterity was spoiled by her love and attention (and homemade bread and candies) anytime they walked through the door. At the time of her passing, Becky’s posterity numbered 82, with her most recent great-grandchild born just five days before her death.

Kay and Becky are remarkably devoted to each other. Their relationship is a living example of true and eternal love, and is the foundation on which their

family was built. Becky believed in and treasured the doctrine of eternal families and was a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout her life. Her unwavering faith in and devotion to the Savior are an essential part of the legacy she leaves behind.

Becky is survived by her husband and best friend of sixty-three years, Jon Kay Barlow, her sons Alan (Julie), Brad (Angela), Steven (Christina), and David (Jessica) Barlow, her daughter Becky (Brian) Blood, and her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A viewing will be held at Russon Mortuary, 295 North Main Street, Bountiful, Utah from 6 to 8 p.m., on Friday, May 29, 2026. An additional viewing will be held at the Mueller Park Stake Center, 1800 South Mueller Park Road (1800 East), Bountiful, Utah, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, May 30, 2026. The funeral will follow at the same location at 11 a.m., with a graveside service to immediately follow at the Bountiful Cemetery.

• Carol Lynn Pearson was one of Becky’s favorite poets, and we’d like to share her poem, “Vital Signs,” here:
• How presumptuous we mortals are—
• Pronouncing one another dead
• Because the eyes are closed,
• The lips are stilled,
• There is no motion in the narrow bed.
• A man once came
• To clear our definitions.
• He knew all words, all places,
• All states of being,
• For he had traveled below all things
• And above
• “Death,” he said, “is darkness, is hate.”
• “And life,” he said, “is light, is love.”
• Oh, look again.
• A vital sign burns bright and gives
• This word:
• She loved, she loves, she yet will love.
• And Love pronounces that she lives.