Barbara Guthrie Wheeler

Barbara Guthrie Wheeler, age 86, of Northport, died Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, at DCH Regional Medical Center. A gathering to celebrate her life will be held in Randall Hall at Christ Episcopal Church on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2012, at 2 p.m. A private graveside service will take place in Sebastopol, California at a later date.

She was preceded in death by her father, William Monroe Guthrie; her mother, Myrtle Cavness Woods Guthrie; and her brother, Ralph Odell Guthrie.

Survivors include her husband of 65 years, Joe Ridley Wheeler; her daughters, Kay Wheeler Guthrie (Hubert) and Nancy Wheeler Jenkins (Bob); granddaughters, Kacie Jenkins Hendrickson (Brandon) and Brodie Allison Jenkins; grandsons, Joe Wheeler Guthrie and Robert Franklin Guthrie II (Jeannie); great-grandchildren, Robert Wyatt Guthrie and Clare Wheeler Guthrie; and niece, Susan Lynn Guthrie.

Barbara was born in Neosho, Missouri, where her father, a pharmacist, owned several drug stores. She grew up during the Great Depression and told many stories to her daughters of the difficulties of that period, including her father losing all of his drugstores and her mother's struggles to make ends meet by teaching piano in their home. In spite of the hardships, Barbara remembered her childhood with great fondness. She told her daughters of playing all day long outside until her mother whistled for her to come home, walking or riding bikes most everywhere with no fear, and knowing everyone in her community. Children walked home for lunch during school and went to the movies for five cents a show. Young people loved Big Band music and swing dancing, roller skates and marbles (always played in the town square), and getting together at church. These stories were vividly described to Barbara's children and grandchildren, who sometimes wished they'd been born a bit earlier! When Barbara was a teenager during World War II, Camp Crowder was set up very near her hometown, and she met many young soldiers stationed there, an exciting experience for a pretty and vivacious young girl.

Barbara was something of a child prodigy under her mother's tutelage and became an accomplished classical pianist. She performed for a short while, giving it up later to raise a family, a much more important goal for her. Later in life, she studied with Adolph Baller, a renowned piano teacher at Stanford University, who considered her a virtuoso. Barbara told her daughters about Baller being a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps and having his hands broken there, which naturally made a huge impression on her. She was a member of the Berkeley Piano Club, a selective and prestigious musical organization and venue for classical music performances of all kinds, where she was deemed one of its most accomplished pianists.

While attending Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, Barbara met and later married Joe Wheeler, whom she described as the most handsome, athletic, and intelligent young man on campus. Best of all, she later said, was the fact that he was "so nice to his mother!" What more could a young girl ask for? They married shortly afterwards, and subsequently moved many times across the country as Joe pursued a career with Proctor and Gamble and, later, Kingsford Charcoal. After living happily in the idyllic town of Anchorage, Kentucky for a decade and raising their two daughters there, Joe accepted a job as corporate vice-president of the Clorox Corporation, landing the couple in Northern California. Many happy years of living on an apple ranch in the Sonoma County wine country ensued. Barbara spent those California years pursuing her music, working on their ranch, and enjoying an active social life. She greatly enjoyed living there and thrived in the cultural environment that it provided. Upon Joe's retirement, they decided to spend half the year in Tuscaloosa, where their older daughter lives. They came to love the area, enjoying the southern way of life and making many good friends.

Barbara loved her husband dearly; he was her "rock" and took wonderful care of her for the last several years of her life after two open heart surgeries and many related health problems. She adored her daughters, who considered her the best mother anyone could be blessed with, and her grandchildren Joe, Rob, Kacie, and Brodie, who called her Babby and loved her dearly. She was also especially close to her niece, Susan, who was like a third daughter to her. Barbara left her family many wonderful memories of love, guidance, humor (she had a great dry wit), and fun.

Special thanks go to doctors Joseph Fritz, John Mantle, and Donny Smith, as well as the entire ICU staff at DCH Regional Medical Center.