Mrs. Barbara Jean King

Barbara Jean Fletcher King of Harker Heights, born April 5, 1959 in Killeen Texsas to James and Norma Fletcher passed on September 19th 2010 at home surrounded by loved family and friends. Barbara was a class of 1977 graduate of Knox High School in Knox Indiana. Before attending Knox she was among the first females to attend Lane Technical School, a previously all male institution. Upon graduation, Barbara joined the Air Force, and served for six years. The discipline she learned in the military served her well all of her life. Her hard edge and determination were undeniable, and unless you came to know her more deeply, she appeared to be a hard tough person. After her Air Force commitment was fulfilled, she graduated from Florida State University with a degree in teaching. Early in her civilian career, she worked for Child Protective Services in Elkhart and Fulton counties Indiana. In these positions she wielded a fierce dermination to bring her heart and soul into her work there, which proved a common theme in any endeavor she undertook, personal or professional. During her teaching career she worked with special needs children. To these children she showed patience, understanding, and love. Perhaps most imporantly she helped to redefine success in ways that never allowed for rest, instead a continued sense of ongoing accomplishment and an extreme disdain for failure. These traits, through example and teaching, were imbued upon her surviving daughter, Taylor Busch, who at press is on her way to induction in the U.S. Navy, demonstrating that the strong stubborn forged-steel edged will has been firmly instilled in the next generation. Barbara’s dimunitive stature belied her tenacity and strength in the face of obstacles that would crush or completely demoralize most others. Her implacability in the face of difficulty almost invariably was the primary instrument of her consistent success, as were her patience, understanding and intellectual prowess. Barbara did not flinch in the face of great difficulty all of her professinal life, and this strength was brought to bear against the health challenges she faced, helping to defy statistics and pessimistic expectations, giving her years of joy that no person (outside the family) with a medical degree expected. The fact that these years she fought for were crucial to the development of her daughter, Taylor, is surely no coincidence. To these professional and personal challenges she additionally brought to bear a sense of humor that was able to bring laughter to moments that generally would not foster amusement.

Barbara has been preceded in death by her father (Jim Fletcher) and grandparents (Carlos and Wenona King). Survivors include her daugher: Taylor Busch, her mother and stepfather: Norma and Hobert Scott, all of Harker Heights, sister Belinda (Gary) Reedy, brothers: Larry and Joe Fletcher all of Knox Indiana.