Barbara Duran

Barbara (Barb) Jean Duran was born on Jan. 20, 1942 to William “Red” Cantwell and Lillian Weiner in Denver, Colorado. She spent many of her formative years living in the Colorado Christian Home due to her father and mother being in poor health. While in the “home,“ her father passed in 1952, when she was just 10 years old. This experience, coupled with the fact of being a displaced Jewish child, would forever impact her. She met John Allen Fajardo in 1957 when she was 15 years old. She was greatly loved by the new family she married into, and it was here that she learned to cook. In 1958, their first daughter Elizabeth “Renee” was born, and their son, Mark Allen Fajardo, was born in 1961. Barb remarried twice more after her divorce from John and finally married Arthur “Donnie” Duran on July 26, 1982. Papa Art was employed as a Certified Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselor. Through this union, she was finally able to find the stability she had always desired. They remained together until his death in 2020. Barb was employed for most of her working career in the food hospitality business. She enjoyed her many rescued animal “babies” she and papa Art raised together - the squirrels, the gardening and the cooking. She is most famous for her potato latkes. She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Art Duran. She is survived by first husband, John Fajardo; cousin, Joanna Lucero; daughter, Renee Fajardo (Glen Anstine); son, Mark Fajardo (Anna Camp), and an abundant number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Barb was no stranger to struggle. Her perseverance is a testimony to the power of unconditional love.

A memorial for Barb was held on Monday Jan. 16th, 2023 at Lakewood United Methodist Church (1390 Brentwood) at 11 a.m. The service was presided over by Rabbi Rick Brody of Jewish Family Services.