Barbara Bower Byerly

Barbara Agnes Bower Byerly passed away unexpectedly on September 18, 2026. Barbara was born on November 14, 1930, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Robert Sidney Bower, Sr. and Marcia Mae Converse Bower. She attended Miss Doherty’s College Preparatory School for Girls, now The Seven Hills School, in Cincinnati, Ohio; Rollins College; and Indiana University, from which she was graduated in 1950 with a degree in art history. At Indiana, she was a member of Phi Mu.

Barbara possessed a lifelong curiosity about the world and a deep appreciation for her family, travel, art, history, and genealogy. Her adventurous spirit took her far from home from an early age. As a young woman in the 1950s, she lived in Paris studying at the Sorbonne, traveled aboard the French Line, lived in Genoa and Rapallo, Italy, and traveled extensively throughout Europe, Greece, and beyond. She expressed her love of art through painting, creating many beautiful watercolors and oil paintings inspired by the places she visited and the scenes she encountered in her travels.

In early 1959, Barbara was preparing for an extended stay in Taiwan, where her parents were living while her father, a chemical and metallurgical engineer, was engaged in consulting work in the steel industry. Barbara planned to join them for several years of travel and exploration. Fate, however, had other plans. That same year, Barbara met Virgil Eugene Byerly in Cleveland, where he was working for Ford Motor Company following his graduation from Harvard Business School and his service in the United States Air Force in England. The two fell in love, and Barbara decided to cancel her plans to travel to Taiwan. Just a few months later, on June 20, 1959, Barbara and Virgil were married in Park Hills, Kentucky.

Barbara and Virgil resided in Cleveland, St. Louis, where their two children were born, and Detroit before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1974. Barbara was deeply interested in politics and never missed an opportunity to vote, insisting on voting in person even at age 95. While living in Detroit in the 1960s, she volunteered extensively with the Republican Party, serving as a “Romney Girl,” a chapter of her life she loved to recount. She was also very involved as a volunteer with her children’s school there, The Cranbrook Schools.

In Atlanta, where she resided for more than 52 years, Barbara became deeply involved in her community and in the many organizations and causes that were important to her. Barbara was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Fort Peachtree Chapter; the Colonial Dames of America; the Habersham Garden Club; and Cherokee Town & Country Club. She was also actively involved with the Opera Guild, the Egleston Auxiliary, and Trinity Presbyterian Church. Throughout her life, she generously gave her time in support of The Westminster Schools, where both her children and her daughter's children attended. Over the years, she served in numerous volunteer roles as a parent and, eventually, as a grandparent, including serving as Grandparent Fund Chair of the Annual Fund alongside her husband, Virgil. Barbara was also an excellent bridge player, belonged to numerous bridge groups throughout her life, and spent many fruitless hours trying to teach her daughter to play properly.

Barbara's love of travel continued throughout her life. She, her husband, Virgil, and their two children enjoyed many trips throughout the United States and Europe, including visits to ancestral sites and homes and to Sardinia to visit dear family friends. In 1987, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Barbara, Virgil, and their two children traveled on a fascinating summer-long trip through Scandinavia, the former Soviet Union, Poland, and East Germany, including a crossing into East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie. After Virgil retired, he and Barbara continued to travel, often with friends and siblings, throughout Europe, China, Turkey, Thailand, and Hawaii.

Family was at the center of Barbara's life. Barbara was predeceased by her parents, by her beloved husband of 47 years, Virgil Eugene Byerly, in 2006, and by her brother, Robert Sidney Bower, Jr., in 2015. Barbara is survived by her daughter, Pamela Bower Byerly Watkins (Thomas Scott Watkins, Sr.); grandchildren, Elizabeth Converse Watkins Moulton (Michael Brian Moulton), Thomas Scott Watkins, Jr. (Mary Grace Pattillo), and John Nelson Watkins (Eleanor Ruth Hopkins); her son, Virgil Robert Byerly (Sara Angelini); and grandchildren, Miss Emma Byerly and Master Jake Buckland Byerly.

Barbara enjoyed excellent health in both body and mind throughout the entirety of her 95 years and was blessed to witness her three oldest grandchildren grow into young adulthood. She never missed a Christmas pageant at Westminster, a sporting event, play, graduation, family celebration, or family trip, whether to Europe or to the beach on the Georgia coast. Even as an octogenarian and nonagenarian, she remained an enthusiastic participant in the lives of her three oldest grandchildren. She traveled repeatedly to Nashville to watch her granddaughter, a Vanderbilt University cheerleader, cheer at football games in the freezing cold and attend basketball games. She even attended her granddaughter's Vanderbilt graduation in the blazing hot sun while recovering from a broken foot, arriving in a cast and wheelchair. She attended both of her grandson’s Georgia Tech graduations, one outside at Bobby Dodd Stadium in a freezing December rainstorm and one in a packed McCamish Pavilion during a COVID outbreak.

She was blessed to attend two of her grandchildren's weddings and had been eagerly planning to attend her grandson Thomas's wedding in Richmond, Virginia, immediately before her death. She was particularly excited to reconnect with Virgil's family when nephews whom she had not seen in more than 40 years, along with their families, attended her grandson John's wedding in Atlanta in February of this year. She also treasured the visits she had with her two younger grandchildren when she traveled to Miami to attend each of their christenings and to celebrate her younger granddaughter’s first and second birthdays.

Barbara's love of history and family heritage remained a meaningful part of her life. She devoted considerable time to genealogical research and passed that fascination on to her three oldest grandchildren, with whom she spent many hours discussing family history, ancestral stories, and the remarkable lives of those who came before them.

She was especially proud to tell her grandchildren that their maternal ancestor, Deacon Edward Converse, came to America with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630 aboard the Lyon, bringing to life for them the “City Upon a Hill” sermon as they learned about it in school. She was equally fascinated by the entrepreneurial spirit and accomplishments of many other ancestors, including her paternal great-grandfather, Buckland Palmer Bower, who patented numerous inventions in the 1870s, including the highly successful “Bower Sewer Trap,” which addressed one of the major problems created by the advent of indoor plumbing by preventing sewer gases from escaping into buildings. The Bower Trap became a well-known product and was specified in the plans for major public institutions, hospitals, and luxury hotels in the United States and abroad. His inventions received international recognition and were featured at major international exhibitions, including the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the 1878 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) in Paris, and the 1884 International Health Exhibition in London. At the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, he was awarded a Gold Medal that became a treasured family heirloom.

Barbara delighted in these stories of invention, achievement, and adventure and was thrilled to see a family tradition of ingenuity, entrepreneurship, curiosity, hard work, and independence continue through her grandchildren. Her interest in genealogy was never simply about names and dates; she loved discovering the personalities, accomplishments, stories, and faith of her ancestors and sharing those stories with the generations that followed.

Barbara will be remembered for her adventurous spirit, her love of travel and art, her selfless devotion to her family, especially to her grandchildren, her faith, and her enduring fascination with history and genealogy. She lived a rich, curious, and wonderfully full life. She embraced the world around her and never shied away from expressing her opinions or beliefs, as anyone who knew her can attest. She remained deeply engaged with the people, history, and causes she loved. She leaves behind a lasting legacy in her family and in the many lives she touched. A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, November 9, 2026, in the chapel at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30327. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Trinity Presbyterian Church.