Edna E. Barkley

Edna E. Barkley entered this world on December 30, 1945, in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, during the closing months of World War II. Born to Clyde and Nettie (Kuhns) Harbaugh, she was welcomed into a family with deep Pennsylvania roots and connections to the established communities of Westmoreland County. Her father, Clyde F. Harbaugh, had been born around 1903 in Maryland, son of Charles Markwood Harbaugh and Mary Catherine Johnson, representing a generation whose lives spanned the Industrial Revolution and its transformation of American society.

Growing up in the post-war era, Edna was part of a family that included her sister Mary Kuhns, who was born on November 9, 1939, in Rector, Pennsylvania, making her about six years Edna's senior. The Harbaugh and Kuhns families represented the established Pennsylvania communities that had maintained strong cultural identity and regional networks throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This foundation would shape Edna's approach to family life and community engagement throughout her eighty years.

In her young adult years, Edna married and became part of the Barkley family, establishing her residence in the Ligonier Valley region of Westmoreland County. This small-town setting, with Ligonier's population of just over 1,500 residents, provided the perfect environment for the life she would build as a devoted homemaker and family matriarch. The Ligonier Valley, nestled between Laurel Mountain and Chestnut Ridge, offered the kind of close-knit community where extended families maintained multigenerational connections and strong social bonds.

As a homemaker, Edna dedicated herself to creating what her obituary beautifully described as "a loving environment filled with comfort, laughter, and unconditional love". This was not merely domestic work but the careful cultivation of family emotional health and the creation of a nurturing household environment that would sustain multiple generations. Her "warmth, kindness, and indomitable spirit" distinguished her approach to family life, suggesting a woman of considerable emotional strength who maintained resilience through decades of social change.

Edna's family grew to include six children: Earl Barkley and his wife Rhonda of Latrobe; Lloyd Barkley and his fiancée Ashley Ribnicky of New Florence; Jesse Barkley and his wife Sue of Latrobe; Sharon McCurdy of Ligonier; Crystal McCurdy and her fiancé Mike Carlyn of Ligonier; and Charles McCurdy, Jr. and his fiancée Alisha Belice of Ligonier. The presence of both Barkley and McCurdy surnames among her children suggests the complex family configurations that were part of her life story, though she embraced all with equal devotion.

Jesse and his wife Sue established a stable home at 886 Solomon Temple Road in Latrobe, purchasing the property in July 2006 and maintaining ownership for nearly twenty years, providing evidence of the family stability that Edna helped foster. Sharon McCurdy resided at 419 Hotel Road in Ligonier, keeping close to the family's geographic center. This clustering of family residences within the Ligonier Valley reflected the strong family bonds that Edna cultivated throughout her life.

Tragedy touched Edna's life with the loss of her son James Barkley, who preceded her in death. She also experienced the profound loss of Charles McCurdy, who passed away on January 1, 2026, just three months before her own death. Charles, born January 19, 1952, was the father of Sharon, Crystal, and Charles Jr., and his death meant that Edna faced her final months having recently lost someone central to her family structure. Additionally, she mourned the loss of her daughter-in-law Rhonda Marie Murphy Barkley, who died on April 27, 2024, at the young age of thirty-six.

Despite these losses, Edna found great joy in her role as grandmother and great-grandmother. She was "a proud grandmother to her many grandchildren and great grandchildren," including Tyler McCurdy and his daughter Ava McCurdy, Landon Barkley, and Lucas Barkley. Each represented a continuation of her legacy: Ava participated in snocross events, demonstrating athletic spirit; Landon achieved recognition as a standout baseball player for Bolivar-Richburg, once striking out sixteen batters in six innings; and Lucas pursued music ministry, serving as Director of Music at Southminster Presbyterian Church beginning in November 2024.

Throughout her life, Edna maintained interests that revealed her curious and engaged personality. She enjoyed puzzle books, which spoke to her appreciation for mental stimulation and problem-solving. Her daily viewing of soap operas connected her to the cultural phenomenon that provided social connection and emotional narrative for many women of her generation. Her interest in "Dateline" crime shows demonstrated intellectual engagement with factual investigation and the complexities of justice. Perhaps most tellingly, she "loved seeing hummingbirds in her yard," suggesting someone who actively cultivated beauty and took time to observe the natural world.

Edna's social world extended beyond immediate family to include meaningful friendships that she treasured as deeply as family relationships. The obituary specifically mentions Orbin Boring and Mary McIntired as "friends that were like family," indicating relationships of sufficient depth and significance that they warranted special recognition in her final tribute. This capacity for building lasting connections outside biological kinship demonstrated her generous heart and commitment to community.

Her final years were marked by continued engagement with family life, witnessing the professional achievements of her grandchildren and maintaining the central role as family matriarch. The loss of Charles McCurdy in early 2026 and her daughter-in-law Rhonda in 2024 meant that her final period included significant grief, yet she maintained the "indomitable spirit" that had characterized her throughout life.

On April 1, 2026, Edna E. Barkley passed away peacefully at the age of eighty in Ligonier, surrounded by the love of the family she had devoted her life to nurturing. Her funeral arrangements were handled by Kenneth A. Stuart Funeral Home in New Florence, ensuring that her passing was honored within the same close-knit community where she had lived and loved for so many decades. She left behind a legacy measured not in public achievement but in the "laughter that could light up a room" and the "unwavering support for those she loved" that made her a treasured matriarch whose influence will continue through the generations she helped shape.