Barbara Ann Sanders

Barbara “Barbie” Ann [Barr] Sanders, passed away peacefully at the age of 79, while in hospice care in Lewisville, Texas on Monday, September 17, 2018. She is lovingly remembered by her husband of 59 years, Robert “Bob” Sanders, along with her three daughters, seven grandchildren, nieces and nephews, siblings, and family friends.

Born February 21, 1939 in Waterloo, Iowa, she graduated from Waterloo West High School in 1957. She went on to attend Iowa State University in Home Economics.

In 1959 Barbie married her high school sweetheart, Bob Sanders. Together they raised three daughters, and Barbie loved all of her grandchildren intensely, and supported her husband in countless ways by being at his side through and through. (She said home was wherever he was). Throughout their marriage they enjoyed living and raising their family in a variety of locales, including Iowa, Florida, Guam, and Illinois. In 1992, they settled in Kirksville, Missouri where they were actively involved in the community including First Presbyterian Church. The two then moved to Coppell, Texas in 2013. Adventurers, Barbie and Bob traveled the world together, sometimes bringing their children. Their travels were the subject of many an evening sharing slideshows and fun stories of places they’d been such as Palau, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Saipan, Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, as well as 48 of the states.

Barbie so loved sewing that she made all three of her daughters’ wedding dresses! She also made coordinated square dance outfits for herself and Bob. Several Halloween costumes, as well as special occasion and everyday clothes were also painstakingly sewn for her girls. There were certainly times when her three daughters, while not close together in age, wore matching outfits styled by their mother. Barbie also enjoyed drawing, and her work can be found adorning the walls of family and friends alike.

Barbie loved the water; whether a swimming pool, a lake, or an ocean beach she was always game for a swim. Enjoying the beauty of nature, Barbie and her family canoed, fished, hiked, and camped whenever they could. Barbie also enjoyed going to garage sales, collecting a variety of toys, gardening, watching movies, and making and eating Czech kolaches. Barbie will forever be remembered for her passion for adventure, her creativity, and her sense of humor.

Barbie’s work included selling Tupperware, a clerk at a bookstore, daycare, substitute teaching, banking, and a clerk at city hall. She was actively involved in numerous committees and outreach programs at church along with serving several terms as a deacon and elder. Barbie also volunteered as Girl Scout leader for five years when her daughters were young.

Barbara Sanders is survived by her husband Bob Sanders (Coppell, Texas), her daughters, Kathy Smith and her husband Brad (Potosi, WI), Debbie Spray and her husband Scott (Coppell, TX) and Vicky DeGroote and her husband Dave (Raleigh, NC), and grandchildren, Shara Sparrgrove (Prague, Czech Republic), Shane Sparrgrove and his wife Allie (Hazel Green, WI), and Sean Sparrgrove (Platteville, WI), Sonja Spray and husband Chris Sigmund (San Francisco, CA), Deidre Spray (Dallas, TX), Shelby DeGroote (Milwaukee, WI) and Phoebe DeGroote (Boone, NC). She is also survived by three siblings, Betty [Barr] Rock, Beverly [Barr] McKnight, and Michael Barr, as well as several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by parents Helen [Hajny] Barr and Norman Barr, parents-in-law Fern [Robinson] Sanders and Robert J. Sanders, sister-in-law Sharon [Sanders] Kalkis, brother-in-law Donald Kalkis, and grandson Steven Sparrgrove.

A memorial celebration of her life is being planned for Thanksgiving weekend. Memorial contributions can be made in tribute to Barbara Sanders through the Hydrocephalus Association at https://www.hydroassoc.org/

“Barbie was the most loving, devoted, and adventurous wife and mother that any man has been so privileged and lucky to share his life with.” - Bob, Barbie’s husband