Barbara J Rio

Barbara June (Dardis) Rio, 67, of Lincoln, went to be with the Lord Monday, February 17, 2014, after a brave 13-month battle with Leukemia. Visitation will be held Friday, February 21, 2014 from 12 pm to 8 pm at O’Connor Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, at 10 am at Christ United Methodist Church. Don Johnson, Barbs former pastor in Missoula, and his wife Ruth, will conduct the service. Graveside internment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Barb was born to Robert and Ione Dardis on June 21, 1946, in Great Falls. She married her high school sweetheart, Anthony M. Rio, on January 28, 1965, and honeymooned in Chicago. They celebrated 49 years of marriage last month. The couple raised four children while moving around Montana and North Dakota with the railroad. Barb loved moving to new cities. In Glendive, she helped organize and operate a Crisis Pregnancy Center, and later helped organize an outreach to troubled teen girls. Barb and Tony shared a love of God and were members of Faith Center in Great Falls. During that time she was involved with Set Free Ministrys outreach to female inmates. After moving to Lincoln they joined the Lincoln Baptist Church. She enjoyed traveling with Linda Lanier (Linda Lanier Ministries) to Nashville,TN, and Portland, OR, to cut albums. Barb was a very artistic person and loved oil painting, quilting, and ceramics. She was also a fantastic cook. Barb is survived by her husband, Anthony of Lincoln; daughter Paige (Eric) Sedgwick of Missoula; sons Anthony R. (Jodi) Rio of Stevensville, Michael (Carrie Sue) Rio of West Richland, WA, and Chris (Kelly) Rio of Great Falls; mother Ione Mans of Great Falls; brother Barry (Marcie) Dardis of Great Falls; sisters Kathy (Matt) Tigart of Great Falls and Mary Ann Nedescu of Buffalo, NY; step-brothers Bill (Penny) Mans of Anchorage, AK and Ray (Sarah) Mans of Florence, OR. She has nine beautiful grandchildren: Jackson, Jenna, and Wyatt Sedgwick, Anthony (Brittney) and Aaron Rio, Elijah Halupa-Smith, Samuel and Caleb Rio, and Sidney Rio. She has one great-granddaughter, Anber Linn. She was preceded in death by her father, Robert Dardis, and step-father, Aaron Mans. In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to the Gift of Life Housing Center, 1101 26th Street South, Great Falls, MT.