Barbara (Tilton) Boardman
Marriages
Robert Boardman
2nd Husband - preceded her in death
William H. "Bill" Hyde - January 30, 1943
Married until his death
Obituaries
The Daily Sentinel page 6B - February 5, 2023
Born Barbara Jean
Tilton in 1924, to Forrest
(Frosty) and Ruth Tilton
of Palisade, Colorado.
She attended University of
Colorado until she married
William H. (Bill) Hyde,
January 30, 1943. She then followed her husband to
each of his postings as a flight instructor during WWII.
After the war, Bill obtained a law degree, and the couple
settled in Grand Junction.
There, Barbara was one of the seven planners of
Operation Foresight, Grand Junction’s pedestrian mall
Main street, which received an All-America City award
as a result. Barbara then obtained both a Bachelor’s
Degree and a Master’s Degree in Horticulture from
Colorado State University. After a short stint at the
Missouri Botanic Garden in St. Louis. Barbara became
a County Extension agent for horticulture in Longmont,
where she stayed for 17 years. As such, she trained over
500 Master Gardeners, a program she helped found.
For over three decades, she wrote gardening columns
entitled “Now is the Time” for the Rocky Mountain
News, Boulder Daily Camera, Longmont Times Call,
Greeley Tribune, Palisade Tribune, and the Grand
Junction Daily Sentinel. She also wrote and published
a trilogy on Gardening in the Mountain West, and a
fourth book on gardening for children.
Her garden, and more especially her rock garden,
was well-known to area residents. She was active in
the PEO Sisterhood, Littleton Garden Club, Boulder
Garden Club, American Rock Garden Society, Denver
Botanic Garden, and Colorado Field Ornithologists.
She received numerous awards for her work, including
the CSU Alumni Association Distinguished Extension
Award in 2009.
She is survived by her children, William H. (Bill)
Hyde of Casselberry, Florida, and Jane Sinton, of
Shandon, California; grandchildren, Jennifer Finnegan,
Julie Pruniski, and Daniel Sinton; and eight great
grandchildren, Saoirse Finnegan, Liam Finnegan,
Caoimhe Finnegan, Declan Finnegan, Colby Sinton,
Nolan Sinton, Noah Pruniski, and Reid Pruniski. She
was preceded in death by her first husband, Bill, and her
second husband, Robert Boardman.
A private memorial service will be held for her next
September. Anyone wishing to attend please notify
the family at whyde7@hotmail.com. Donations in her
memory may be made to the Barbara Hyde Boardman
Endowment for the Master Gardener program at
Colorado State University Cooperative Extension
Service - advancing.colostate.edu\extension.
