Barbara Joan Mouffe

At 94 years old, longtime Boulder resident Barbara “Barby” Swann Mouffe passed away on May 3, 2024 in Louisville, CO. She was the last of the four Swann sisters. Barby was born during the Great Depression in Dedham, MA, along with her twin sister Mary, on November 7 in 1929 to Rosamond Lillie Swann and Henry W. Hogarth-Swann. In 1947 she took the advice of her adventurous older sister Betsy, and moved to Boulder with her sister Mary, where she graduated from University of Colorado with a sociology degree. At CU, Barby fell in love with Boulder-born Frank Emil Mouffe. She and Mary had a double-wedding on September 1st, 1951 in Dedham, MA. Her beloved Frank was “the best decision” she ever made and they were married for 64 years. In the early years, Frank and Barby spent two years designing and building their home on a double lot on Hawthorn Street in north Boulder, an ideal place to raise their three active sons. Barby worked for a decade as a tax preparer for H & R Block and excelled in finances. Her other interests included: writing, hand-knitting sweaters/hats, researching genealogy, playing piano, baking pies and chocolate Christmas turtles, playing bridge, enjoying potty humor, and being involved with the League of Women Voters. During some summers, Barby and Frank enjoyed taking the kids to visit her family's cabin on Long Island, New Brunswick, Canada. She wrote a locally-popular book about the island’s history. Barby also had a rare find—a lost notebook of American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. As she extensively researched the famous author, Barby was able to transcribe the difficult-to-read handwriting into a book, and added a foreword for this important discovery. Barby also traveled with Frank and family to places like England, Mexico, Hong Kong and Nepal. In her eighties and nineties, she knit more than a hundred newborn baby hats for a licensed midwife. Barby is survived by her three sons and their families: Frank H. Mouffe (the late Lynne Wolfe, and the late PJ Johnson) of Windsor, CO, David H. Mouffe (Erika Mouffe) of Erie, CO, and Eric A. Mouffe (Christina Demetro) of Durango, CO, and including one grandson, Travis F. Mouffe (Rebecca Partridge) of Lantana, TX, and two great-grandchildren, Adelynne and Francesca Mouffe, who—like Barby—are also twins, a touching nod to her and the circle of life.