Barb Wilkison

Barb taught English, science and other subjects in the Fauquier County Public Schools system beginning in 1990 through her retirement in 2017, when she continued to substitute teach in area schools.

She was a favorite of students and well-liked by her colleagues, spending 27 years at Taylor Middle School, working for a time alongside her beloved daughter and fellow Tigers teacher Bethany Rosenberg, who passed away in 2020.

Barb was a voracious reader with a soft spot for the Harry Potter series, but her pastimes were many; she liked to play cards, journal, needlepoint, crochet, travel and serve as a loyal companion to the many cats she had throughout her life. She was an avid Washington Nationals fan and loved to follow West Virginia University sports teams, particularly football and the women and men’s basketball programs.

But Barb’s biggest passion was singing and performing with the Piedmont Singers and the Warrenton Chorale, as well as the choir of Warrenton Presbyterian Church, where she had been a member since 2011. Among the soprano’s treasured moments were singing excursions across the UK, including a final concert trip in August 2024 before she was slowed by nagging health issues.

Prior to her teaching career, Barb ran the leasing office at Chestnut Hill Apartments in Morgantown, West Virginia, where her husband, Kyle, managed the rental complex. In addition to managing the day-to-day duties of the office, which she oversaw from 1978 to 1987, she organized activities for seniors living in the apartment community. She was involved with the Morgantown branch of Business and Professional Women and an active member of the Morgantown Church of the Brethren.

Barb earned her high school equivalency degree in 1986 and enrolled at West Virginia University, finally beginning her long-delayed journey to becoming a schoolteacher. She was frequently on the dean’s list before graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education in 1990.

She and her husband moved to Warrenton after accepting the job at Taylor. She continued to further her education throughout her career and earned master’s degrees from Virginia Tech and Walden University.

Barb was born to Fred and Gerry Smith on Oct. 28, 1947, in Dayton, Ohio, and attended Meadowdale High School. She worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Dayton, where she met and married her future husband in 1970.

In 1974, the couple moved from Dayton to Maidsville, West Virginia, where she was a homemaker and an active member of the Fort Martin community and the Point Marion (Pennsylvania) Garden Club until moving to nearby Morgantown in 1978.

At the time of her death, Barb was a much-loved resident of the Remington of Yardley, an assisted living community in Pennsylvania. If she wasn’t watching the Nats or enjoying a British television series, she could be found playing bingo, cornhole or any number of card games with her many friends.

Barb was preceded in death by her mother, father and husband, as well as her daughter and brother Ron. She is survived by her son David, daughter-in-law Kathryn and brother Fred, as well as four grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Inurnment will be at Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens in Morgantown, WV with a celebration of life service to be held in the fall in Warrenton, VA.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Lymphoma Research Foundation (lymphoma.org).