Barbara K. Ross

Barbara Kay (Bedford) Ross, 80, died peacefully on December 27, 2019, at her Arbor House Reminisce Home in Norman, OK after an extended illness. She was born on July 15, 1939, in Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ the younger of two children born to Alda Vernon Bedford and Katherine (Keller) Bedford.

Barbara graduated from Princeton, NJ High School and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from the University of Rochester, NY where she met her future husband, Allan Anderson Ross. They were wed April 15, 1962, at Princeton United Methodist Church. In addition to Rochester Allan’s career in higher education led them to Bloomington, IN, Houston, TX and Norman, OK

Barbara taught fourth and fifth grades (simultaneously in her first year of teaching) in Penfield, NY, and Beech Grove, IN. She was licensed as an LPN at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, and was employed as a labor and delivery nurse there. In addition to her role as mother and homemaker, she resumed her career as a nurse at Norman Regional Hospital.

Her life centered on her family and she cherished her role as a loving wife and mother to five children. She is survived by her husband, Allan, who resides in their Norman home, and her children, Karen Elizabeth McCaskill (Russell) of Arlington, Texas; Judith Carol Lawley (Wayne) of Lubbock, Texas; Donna Susan Peterson (Tony) of Clear Lake Shores, Texas; Linda Beth Brogdon (Randy) of Dunwoody, Georgia; and Jason Andrew Ross (Kristina) of Norman, Oklahoma. She was grandmother “Nanny” of nine grandchildren: Chase Allan McCaskill, Zachary Allan Lawley (Mallory), Nicholas Benjamin McCaskill (Susannah), Rachel Patricia Peterson, Courtney Brooke Lawley, Matthew Reed McCaskill, Ross Lloyd Peterson, Keller Mitchell Brogdon, and Connor Elias Brogdon. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Nancy Helen Bedford Moler

Throughout her life she loved music, especially singing in church choirs. Even in the throes of Alzheimer’s Disease she could sing along with all the words to CDs of Broadway shows. She was active as a dedicated church member in communities where they resided. In Norman she was active at First Christian Church and volunteered with CASA, Meals on Wheels, and other community groups.