Charleen Dee Barr, 81, of Johnstown died peacefully on July 6, 2026, at the Pathways Inpatient Care Center with her husband, Ralph, holding her hand. She was born on September 18, 1944, in Denver to Charles Daniel and Eunice Rena (Bryant) Lewis. Her father died suddenly a couple of months before she was born and her mother later married his brother, Eugene Lewis. She was raised in Denver and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1962. During high school, Charleen reached the rank of Worthy Advisor for The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls. 

She went on to attend McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History in May 1966. It was there she met Ralph Barr, Jr. and they were later married on August 20, 1966, at Prince of Peace Brethren Church in Denver. 

She began her career as the assistant to the Director of Libraries with McPherson Public Schools for a year while Ralph finished his schooling. They took jobs with the Department of the Interior, teaching on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She taught fourth and fifth grade for two years. They owned horses and rode in the Badlands while learning the traditions and culture of the Reservation. This was one of the most valuable experiences of her life. She was accepted to the University of Denver where she received her Master of Library and Information Sciences in 1970. She accepted a job at Roosevelt High School in 1970 then spent the next 30 years as the high school librarian, retiring in 2000. 

The family loved to travel, and she was fortunate to see all 50 states and cross the oceans of the east and west coast to Bahrain and Japan. She became a Master Gardener during retirement with the CSU Extension Office and was awarded emeritus status after 20 plus years of service. She loved camping, fly-fishing, hiking, gardening, cooking, baking, bee keeping, hummingbirds and was a voracious reader. She devoted her life to her family, and her grandchildren were the sunshine of her golden years. 

Thankful to have shared her life are her husband, Ralph; their daughters, Amy (Firas Al-Otaibi) Barr and Amanda Barr; her three grandchildren, Noora Al-Otaibi, and Cora and Cason Paris; her sister, Karen (Larry) Amrein; and her nieces, nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles, Eunice and Eugene; and her sister, Cindy Lewis. 

Charleen’s Life Celebration will be held at 11:30 a.m. July 17 at Dreams & Dragonflies Event Center, 5194 WCR 50, in Johnstown. Private family interment at the Johnstown Cemetery. Memorial gifts may be made to the “Glenn A. Jones, MD Memorial Library” in care of Young’s Funeral Service, 102 E. Charlotte Street, Johnstown, CO 80534. Memories may be shared at youngsfunerals.com.