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Show Page 6 The Ogden Valley News Volume XXX Issue XII April 1, 2023 Announcements 79-Year-Old Weber State Student Becomes TikTok Sensation With 2.3 Million Followers more than 2.3 million fol- Obituaries Jacqueline B. Swearingen March 24, 1931 ~ March 9, 2023 On Thursday, March 9, 2023, Jacqueline B. Swearingen returned to her Heavenly Father, surrounded by her loving daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The eldest child of Vearl George and Edna Cora Devore Barnard, Jackie was born March 24, 1931 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was married to MC Swearingen, Jr., in Pocatello, Idaho on April 22, 1955, and they raided four beautiful daughters. Jackie graduated from Bear River High School, finished her nursing certificate at Thomas Dee Memorial Hospital School, and later received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from the University of Utah. She retired from Weber County School District after nearly 30 years as a school nurse. Prior to that, she worked in public health and hospital nursing in different states and in Panama. It was a great source of joy to her to still be recognized by students she had known while working. Jackie had an unshakable faith in her Church. She was a kind person who never had a cross word to say about anyone. We know she was so happy to rejoin her husband, MC; her parents; and other beloved family members when she reached the other side. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her, especially her family here, to whom she had told many times, “Love is just love—you always have enough to go around.” Jackie is survived by her daughters Cezanne (Paul) Brennan, Anita Bolt, Verleen Swearingen, and Kathy (Richard) Lane; ten grandchildren; and 22 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; two sons-in-law, Steve Bolt and Jack Rohrback; and by her best friend Melva Crookston. Funeral services were held Friday, March 17, 2023 at the Foothills Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1475 Cahoon St., Ogden. Interment, Lindquist’s Memorial Gardens of the Wasatch, 1718 Combe Rd. Condolences may be shared with the family at lindquistmortuary.com. Deceased Charles Parker, 96, died March 2, 2023. David Wallace Degn, 82, died March 6, 2023. by an earthquake and the month of occurrence is known, most occurred during tumbled from the cliff walls and down through spring (11) and summer (12) months. the windshield of their pickup truck that was Presumably this is because of spring thaw, traversing Highway 158 near the spillway at summer cloudbursts, and diurnal temperature Pineview Reservoir. changes. July and March had the highest In February of 2019, Barbie Sunderland of (10) and second-highest (5) occurrences Eden stated that during the 20 years she had respectively, per month. lived in Eden, “I’ve seen rocks fall in front of • Personal injuries from rock falls and slides my car; I’ve seen them fall behind.” The comwere rare. However, 4 people were killed ment was in response to a boulder hitting her and 11 people were injured, 2 seriously, car directly. “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, in 50 events. [I would interject that as this boulder came just crashing down and Utah’s population continues to increase startled me. A big crash, just crushing metal.” exponentially, which also increases tra昀케c, In 2022, a rockslide in Cedar Canyon the odds that a large falling rocks will hit sent a large boulder crashing into a vehicle. vehicles also increase, increasing the risk for Fortunately, the occupants escaped serious personal harm or death.] injury. A report in April 2000 from the Utah • Five rock falls damaged homes, 21 impacted highways, 3 damaged railroad tracks, and Geological Survey states, “Rock falls are a natural process of cliff and hillside ero2 breached water conduits. Rock falls and sion…. Although many rock falls occur in Utah slides are a threat to property and life within each year, few are recorded or cause damthe runout zone. The runout zone extends age. However, from a history of 50 rock falls form the slope below the source downward between December 10, 1887 and October 10, to at least the maximum distance from the 1999, we can make the following observations: cli昀昀 that rocks have fallen and rolled. • All Utah earthquakes of magnitude 5 or greater (nine total) triggered rock falls. • Of the 39 rock falls that were not triggered BOULDERS cont. from page 1 Among the thousands of seniors finishing their last semester at Weber State University this spring, another kind of senior is relaunching her educational journey — and gaining millions of followers in the process. Sharon Barber, 79, is earning an associate’s degree at Weber State after taking a 40-year break to work and raise a family. She has five children, 16 grandchildren and recently welcomed her ninth great-grandchild. “I’m a nontraditional student in every sense of the word,” Barber said. “When I first started classes, I was kind of an anomaly. I got a few strange looks. But I decided I’m going to go in there like any other student, with a positive attitude. Now I’m feeling like I’m in my element.” Although she had some college experience, Barber spent four decades doing everything from sales to substitute teaching to starting her own publishing company. In the back of her mind, she always wanted to finish what she started. She now plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in creative writing at Weber State after finishing her associate degree. Barber calls herself a writer at heart, having written hundreds of poems and the beginnings of several books. She wanted “more guidance, more expertise, more instruction” from professors and chose Weber State because it was already in the family. Two of her sons graduated from WSU. “When you haven’t been to school for 40 years, everything is hard,” she said. “But I have just met the most amazing, kind, considerate, helpful students that have helped me on this journey.” At first, Barber wondered what fellow students would think of her, not only because of her age, but because she has spasmodic dysphonia, which causes her voice to shake. To face that fear, she took a public speaking class. “I thought, if I nip this in the bud, I’ll be able to do anything,” she said. “I met many friends in that class, and I got an A.” Since then, Barber has become beloved in her classes, offering hugs and high fives to much younger classmates. College isn’t the only realm where Barber is a bit older than her peers; she’s also gained lowers on TikTok, where fans know her as “grandmagreat.” Barber became interested in the social media platform in 2020 when her daughter and granddaughter recorded a TikTok video in her backyard. “My daughter said, ‘Mom, you would be so good at TikTok. You love people, you’re funny, you’re spontaneous, you’re likable, people love you. Why don’t we do a TikTok?’ And I said OK, and I created my platform.” Since her first video, Barber has used TikTok to share encouraging messages and snippets of campus life as a “senior” at Weber State. She also hosts a cooking segment called “Simply Delicious,” where she livestreams from her kitchen. With some videos racking up over 12 million views, Barber said she’s grateful to serve as a grandmother figure to what she calls her “TikTok grandchildren.” She receives thousands of comments and messages each week and does her best to respond to all of them. “There are so many people looking for someone to care, to reach out, to tell them they’re enough, to tell them that they can do hard things,” she said. “I don’t have any degree in psychology or sociology, but I have at least 50 years of good experience in dealing with life. And all I can offer is just what I know, what I feel.” Barber is best known for her motto, “I can do hard things”—a message she’s proud to share with those who are struggling to believe in themselves. She ends most of her videos looking directly into the camera and saying, “I love you.” “Love is an energy that you can put out there in the universe,” Barber said. “I believe that social media is a means of doing that. And I hope that ‘I love you’ resonates with whoever’s needing that.” As for the future, Barber expects to earn her bachelor’s degree at age 84 and would also like to ring in her 80s by skydiving. “I’m always looking for more challenges,” she said. You can watch Barber’s story at youtube. com/watch?v=VHx15ovWLZM. TAX SPECIAL for TEENAGERS: 1040: $49.95 (no matter how many W2’s) “Kids living at home” returns only $35.00 with parents returns. |