Barbara Sutton Cowles

Barbara Sutton Cowles of Houston, TX died from complications of polycythemia vera, a type of blood cancer, on August 17, 2021 at the age of 79. Barbara was born on May 1, 1942, in Washington D.C. She grew up in nearby Arlington, VA and graduated from high school in the spring of 1960. Following a suggestion from her uncle, she obtained her bachelor’s in English at the University of Kentucky. Barbara was selected as the University of Kentucky’s Outstanding Woman of the Year during her senior year and then completed her Master’s degree in education two years later.

At the University of Kentucky, Barbara met Joe Richard Cowles who was working on his Masters in agriculture. They were married in Lexington, KY on June 6, 1965. They were happily married for 56 years.

Barbara had a great deal of success in education. Her first teaching job was at Corvallis High School in Oregon from 1965 to 1968. She resumed her education career in the fall of 1980 teaching at Pershing Middle School before moving to Bellaire High School. She primarily taught AP/IB English 3 at Bellaire until the spring of 1990. Her letters of recommendation were so sought after that she had to cap the number of letters she would write each year. In the fall of 1990 after moving to Blacksburg, VA, Barbara accepted a job teaching freshman composition at Virginia Tech. She became Associate Director of the Honors Program later that year. As Associate Director, she helped recruit students to join the Honors Program, ran a freshman honors colloquium, developed the honors learning community, and helped improve the success of Virginia Tech in major scholarships including a Rhodes Scholar and numerous Marshall and Udall Scholars. She won the Golden Key Mid-Atlantic Region Advisor of the Year in 1994 and later the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Advising. Her expertise and success in identifying and guiding students to major scholarships led her to conduct breakout sessions at national university honors conferences on a consistent basis. Her final job in education was a job perfectly matched for her outgoing personality, desire to support and help students and ability to provide counsel and guidance to young minds. She was honored with a large retirement event and a bronze plaque that hangs in Hillcrest Hall in the spring of 2008.

Barbara was a very devout and religious person. She showed early interest becoming active in her youth group at Westover Baptist Church in Arlington. She was active in the Baptist church in every place she lived. Her love of the Bible and teaching found her teaching Sunday school to 7th grade girls, college students and even adults. Barbara always became a leader in her church communities. She was assistant director of the University of Kentucky Baptist Student Fellowship (BSF), co-director of the Oregon State BSF, a deacon at Willow Meadows Baptist Church in Houston and chair of the deacons at Blacksburg Baptist Church in Virginia. The church was often her platform to reach out to those in need. She participated in multiple mission trips and often visited church members in Blacksburg who were unable to attend services.

Barbara loved to entertain. Thanksgiving was often spent with several families from Willow Meadows rotating houses each year. She hosted regular social events with teacher friends at Bellaire High School. She also hosted wine and cheese socials and annual dinner parties with the Virginia Tech biology faculty. Barbara also loved to travel visiting 17 countries and many of the 50 states. Her love of reading and literature meant there was always a large queue of books near her bed. Reading to her grandchildren was a special source of joy for Barbara. All 6 grandchildren knew their Nana would include the gift of a book on most every occasion.

Barbara’s devotion to her friends and coworkers created many long lasting friendships. Everyone was quick to honor any request from her because they knew she would also honor any of their requests. Barbara had an impressive list of Christmas cards she would send out every year keeping everybody up to date on the successes of her family. Nobody was immune from her charm and friendly demeanor. She often scanned her environment in public places looking for people to connect with, even for only a moment. Lucky were the ones that connected with her on a regular basis since they had a devoted friend for life.

Barbara is survived by her husband, Joe, son Richard and his wife Lynn, son Daniel and his wife Maria, and grandchildren Samantha, Zachary, Benjamin, Megan, Whitney and Ryan. She is preceded in death by her brother, Robert, and sister, Margaret.

Donations can be made in Barbara’s memory to Reading Is Fundamental (https://www.rif.org/), PBS Houston (https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/), or the Barbara Sutton Cowles Scholarship Fund at the University of Kentucky (https://kentuckycan.uky.edu/ , click on “Give Now” and type “Barbara Sutton Cowles Scholarship Fund” in the search bar).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the Cowles family.