Barbara Mabel Myers

Barbara Myers was born in Kent, Ohio in 1934 and died peacefully in her sleep in Austin, Texas on September 25, 2026 at age 92. Barbara was born into a musical family: her grandmother was a concert pianist, and her father played the clarinet in speakeasies and other venues in the 1920s. This musicality was passed onto her; she started playing the piano as a young child and continued her whole life, including weekly concerts in her retirement community. She called music one of the great loves of her life.

She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of what was then Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Barbara moved to Texas in the early 1960s and never left. She loved the outdoors, particularly the Texas Hill Country, where she frequently camped and hiked. Barbara was a lifelong champion of women’s rights and served as president of the League of Women Voters in Dallas.

After moving to Austin, she started at the University of Texas as a secretary in the Petroleum Engineering department and worked her way up to Assistant Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. While there, she was a friend and confidant of countless students and faculty. She served as the faculty advisor for the Liberal Arts Student Council and Mortar Board, and administered the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at UT. One of her favorite job duties at UT was administering the Liberal Arts student study-abroad programs. She was able to accompany students and faculty on many trips, going places like Turkey, Spain, and France. She continued to travel after retirement, going to Peru with her brother, Kit, and Costa Rica with her daughter, Melinda’s, family.

She loved to read and faithfully completed the daily New York Times crossword puzzle, except for the Monday and Tuesday editions that were “too easy.” Barbara was well-known for her dry sense of humor and wit, something that she kept until she died.

She was predeceased by her parents, Hale and Pearl, and her brother Christopher. She is survived and will be greatly missed by her brother, Jay; children Melinda (Reid) and Chris (Rebecca); grandchildren Elizabeth (Lorenzo), Victoria, Lauren (Becky), and Conor; and great-grandchildren Thomas and Charlotte, as well as numerous other relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Barbara’s memory to the Barbara M. Myers Endowed Scholarship in Liberal Arts at UT Austin or the League of Women Voters.