Barbara Ruth Sibbald

SIBBALD, BARBARA RUTH (nee Watts)

Barbara Ruth Sibbald passed away peacefully in her 96th year at her home in Sunrise of Aurora with family and cherished caregivers at her side, on June 13th, 2026—the 73rd anniversary of her wedding to the late John Drinkwater Sibbald.

With their family, Barbara and John ran The Briars Resort in Jackson’s Point on Lake Simcoe from the 1950’s through 2017. Born to Canadian Anglican missionary parents in Japan, Barbara and her family evacuated to Canada just before the attack on Pearl Harbour. Barbara attended Lawrence Park Collegiate, then graduated with Honours B.A. in Sociology from Trinity College, University of Toronto.

After working with Toronto Parks, Barbara joined CNIB as its first National Director of Recreation. She blazed trails, creating programs for blind and partially sighted adults and children. She left that to raise her three boys with John at The Briars in Georgina, turning her energies to community and family. Barbara volunteered with CNIB, Heart and Stroke and Sutton Skating Club, but one of her proudest achievements was helping to found a school and the association which became Community Living Georgina.

With smiles and laughter, she created an idyllic country home for her boys. She allowed them the freedom to roam the nearby fields with their friends, organized legendary, theme-based birthday parties, and always looked for ways to enrich their community.

She wove together the needs of local, cottage, and resort families to create a tremendous day camp and sports club experience and, with her lifeguards, taught hundreds of children to swim in the resort pool. As chatelaine of The Briars, with laughter and song, Barbara hosted weekly summer soirees in the family’s home for cast, crew, guests, and glitterati of the Red Barn Theatre.

After Barbara and John expanded the seasonal Briars into a year-round operation in 1977, Barbara continued to run recreation, human resources, and catering. Her delight was hosting guest parties and weddings. Brides, guests, and staff speak fondly of the detail and warm hospitality of those years.

As her family took over leadership of The Briars, Barbara threw her energies back into volunteering. She helped found, and later chaired, the Georgina Trades Training Institute and appeared in the Ladies of the Lake calendar for Lake Simcoe. She was pleased as punch to be recognized, with John, as Georgina Citizens of the year and to receive a Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her contributions to business and the community.

She moved to Aurora after her language and much of her movement were robbed by a series of strokes. She missed Georgina and was always pleased to hear news, stories, and gossip from the place she called home. We are forever grateful to Mom’s loving team of Sunrise caregivers, to her private carers Karen Eakins and Leslie Garel, and to her faithful friends who continued to visit through those long seven years.

Barbara is survived by her sons, Peter (Nancy Fretter); Hugh (Sheila Maxwell); and Andrew (Janet); grandchildren, Kaitlin, Rebekah (Luke), Anne (Jordan), Maya (Austin), and John; great-grandsons; and her brother Hugh (Sharon) and sister Margaret (Stephen). She was pre-deceased by her parents, Bishop Horace and Ruth Watts, her sister, Alison, and her brother Ronald (Donna).

There will be a memorial service on Friday, October 2, 2026, at 2:00 pm, at St. George’s Anglican Church, Sibbald Point, 410 Hedge Road, Georgina. A reception will follow at The Briars Inn. In lieu of flowers, donations would be appreciated to any of: Georgina Community Food Pantry, CNIB, Indspire.ca, Heart and Stroke, St. George’s Church via ParishofGeorgina.org.

(Photo Credit: Gabi von Gans)