Obituary: Brandon Barchi

Brandon Barchi
December 9, 1958 to February 24, 2014
 
A celebration of life will be held this weekend to honor Boulder Creek resident Brandon Barchi who died last month.
Mrs. Barchi was born in Los Angeles, and as a child moved to Oklahoma where she was raised by her grandparents on the Choctaw Nation in Durant, Okla. in a dirt-floor cabin. She learned to hunt and ride bareback. Once as a small child she asked her grandfather to take her hunting. When he refused, her independent soul took over and she grabbed her horse and set out on her own. She managed to ride up on a wild boar. Jumping from her horse, she stabbed it in the rear with her knife. To her surprise the boar was not impressed. Luckily she had the good sense to scramble up a tree. Her grandfather realizing she was missing when the horse came back alone and tracked her to the tree where he rescued her. Her riding skills continued to develop and she later used them on the rodeo circuit as a successful barrel racer which helped her put herself through college.
Mrs. Barchi worked as an executive assistant in the computer industry in the Silicon Valley for many years until she and her husband, Steve, moved to the San Lorenzo Valley in 1989. In 2007, she landed a job with the San Lorenzo Valley Water District as the administrative assistant/district secretary to the board of directors. She no longer had to commute over the hill.
Mrs. Barchi is survived by her husband Steve Barchi of Boulder Creek and her son Zachary Barchi and his wife Courtney of Nevada.
A gathering of her family and friends will be held in Boulder Creek to celebrate Mrs. Barchi’s life on Saturday, March 8. Those who wish to attend should contact Carole at 246-0680.
Family asks that donations be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, www.stjude.org, in lieu of flowers.