“She was really well-loved by the entire community.”
That’s the sentiment John Dumbovic echoed on Saturday, Dec. 9 as he gave away the remaining food from his mom’s restaurant.
His mom, Barb Dumbovic, owner of the restaurant Barb’s Delights, died suddenly in late November.
On Saturday, Dumbovic was taken aback by the amount of people that showed up to the restaurant.
“I was surprised, I’m still surprised how many people love her and how she’s touched so many people’s hearts,” said Dumbovic. “I’m really glad I could do what she would’ve done.”
After moving to Kelowna in 1994, Barb started selling her famous perogies out of the trunk of her car. She eventually upgraded to a van, and then a food truck, and was able to open her restaurant at 2789 Highway 97 N in 2010.
Many of the people that came to the restaurant told stories about Barb and their interactions with her.
“I love hearing stories about my mom,” said Dumbovic. “Like I said, I’m surprised how many people she touched and how many people thought she was an amazing lady.”
All the food was gone in the matter of a couple hours on Saturday but John said they kept enough perogies and cabbage rolls for his mom’s service “in order to give her one last taste of Barb’s Delights.”
Dumbovic added he doesn’t know yet when the service for his mom will be held.
As for the store, it will eventually be for sale, Dumbovic added.
Dumbovic also said Barb’s death was “a complete surprise, a punch in the face. There were so signs, it just happened.”
Shortly after Barb’s death, John set up a GoFundMe with the goal of $5,000 to cover the cost of his mom’s funeral expenses. As of Saturday, Dec. 9, $8,293 has been raised.
“She loved to feed people,” said Dumbovic. “Everybody’s grieving, how do you have a whole city grieving? That’s the kind of impact she had, when a whole city is grieving for her loss.”
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