Augusta Louise (Amplo) Barron

Our mother, Augusta (Gussie) Louise Barron was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 27th, 1930, and passed away in her beloved Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 12th, 2021.

Mom was raised in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York. the daughter of a second-generation Sicilian- American family, whose mother Margaret worked for 30 years in the garment district, and whose father Michael worked a family-owned grocery store. The brownstone in which her family lived housed her sister Lillie, her mother and father, her grandmother, and one of her aunts.

Growing up, Mom was surrounded by an extended family of Sicilian immigrants who watched over her, protected her, and provided her with a legacy of hard work, faith, family, and great food.

Mom graduated from Grover Cleveland High School in 1947 and received her teaching degree from Hunter College in 1951. Dad - James T. Barron II, met Mom at a joint choir event of West Point Military Academy and Hunter College. She married Jim, her husband of 37 years, in 1951. After graduating from West Point, Jim was sent to Korea soon after their marriage and did not come home until after the Korean Armistice was signed in 1953. This first posting should have given Gussie a hint of what was to come, as Jim's career took them to Fort Campbell, KY, Stuttgart, Germany, Munich, Germany, Fort Sill, OK., Fort McPherson, GA., Fort Bliss, TX., Fort Leavenworth, KS., Fort Bragg, NC., the Pentagon, and Fort Sill, OK., once again.

Somehow, during this nomadic journey, seven children appeared, with Gussie parenting the brood alone during Jim's many deployments, including three to Vietnam. Travel to each duty post was in a station wagon crammed with kids, usually including a baby, diapers, and food, as fast-food joints were unheard of.

As a mother, her instinctive organizational skills, practical nature, and ability to stretch the budget from month to month allowed her to maintain some semblance of order while her husband was away. Her family never went to a restaurant, and every meal was home-cooked. Monthly trips to the commissary were legendary, as 27-30 bags of groceries were unloaded. If whole chickens were on sale, at least 30 or so were purchased, and an assembly line was created as the children all learned how to use shears to turn the chickens into parts for freezing. Laundry was organized into individual tubs, and the ever-present pile of diapers loomed large by the washing machine. With the daily tedium of keeping such a household functioning, Gussie managed to impart onto her children her cooking skills and a love of reading, which turned Christmas mornings into veritable book swaps.

During the school years, six to seven brown bag lunches were made every morning, with names on the bags, customized for each of us. Football and baseball games, as well as wrestling matches were faithfully attended, with Gussie's screams heard occasionally above the crowd. As her family got older, and college expenses loomed, she updated her teaching certificate and taught elementary school.

As an Army wife, she mastered the art of entertainment and became a gracious hostess which included organizing bridge games at every posting. Her parties were legendary and added to her well-known culinary and social reputation. She developed a great capacity to roll with the ups and downs of military life. During the Vietnam deployments, Gussie supported the wives of the men in Jim's battalion, taking phone calls late into the nights to provide comfort.

After Jim retired from the Army, they chose Albuquerque, New Mexico as a final destination in 1978. They enjoyed a wonderful 10 years together in New Mexico before Dad passed on.

Gussie and Jim loved the New Mexico culture, topography, and weather. Dad sang in the church choir and volunteered for political campaigns. Gus volunteered at her church, the hospital, and they both became active in the Right to Life movement. Mom finally had time to travel for fun with Elder Hostel and later enjoyed volunteering in Old Town as a tourist aide. She renewed her love of opera, enjoyed the Flamenco Dancing troupe as well as the Pueblo Indian culture. Gussie and Jim spent time outdoors with their hiking club, and Jim could be seen jamming their trailer into the side yard of their house between trips to Navajo or Conchas Lakes. They always shared their great love of New Mexico with visiting family and ex-military friends.

While Gussie was grounded by her joy in her family of 7 children, 17 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren, who loved and admired her, she always thought of herself as a devoted soldier's wife. Her final requests were for her family to have a party in Gussie and Jim's memory and to lay her to rest at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico beside her husband.