Barbara E. Laird, age 84, of Battle Creek, died Thursday September 22, 2016 at the Stonebridge Adult Foster Care Home of Bellevue. Barbara was born August 8, 1932 in Bedford, MI, to Daniel and Nellie (Lucas) Prough, and was a lifelong resident of the area. She was a 1951 graduate of W. K. Kellogg High School and married Harold E. Laird in December of that year. She had worked as a cook at the Bedford Elementary School and then was employed by the Transamerica Insurance Co. for over 20 Years, retiring in 1993. Barbara was a member of the Bedford Bible Church and the Order of the Eastern Star, Bedford Lodge. She enjoyed needlework of all kinds, baking, and her cats. Barbara is survived by her sons, Samuel (Lari) Laird, of Bedford, and Harold (Carol) Laird, of Galesburg, granddaughters, McKenzie and Meganne Laird and a niece, Ester Alison. Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, Harold E. Laird, in 1999, sisters, Marjorie Chantrene, Genevieve Robinson, and Helen Morgan, brothers, Earl and Daniel Prough.