Barbara J. Hellwig Atkinson

Barbara Jean Atkinson was born "Bobbie Jean" in Alto Pass, Illinois. Her family included her mother, Mawzie (Helen Lingle), her father, EJ (Edgar Hellwig), and sisters, Buddie (Mary Catherine) and Beezy (Dolores Hellwig Higgins) of St. Louis, Missouri.

She grew up in a single parent family in St. Louis during the Depression and loved her summers in Southern Illinois especially with her grandmother, Grandma Lingle. She graduated high school during WWII, married Thomas Atkinson, and moved to New Jersey where she became the mother of Sandra Atkinson Pearch of Carrollton, Ohio; Lynn (Barbara) Atkinson of Norwalk, Connecticut; Greg Atkinson of St. Louis, Missouri; and Jeff Atkinson of Westlake Village, California.

The family moved to Geneva, Switzerland in 1959 and then to Norwalk, Connecticut in 1962. Barbara was a homemaker and artist. She began a real estate career and started her own company, Barbara Atkinson Realty in 1972. She retired in 2000.

She is the beloved grandmother of Bitsy (Alexandra Pearch Willoughby) of Independence, Kentucky; Mindy Pearch Lutton of Carrollton, Ohio; Dr. Jeffrey Pearch of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Greg Pearch of Phoenix, Arizona; Kate Atkinson of Nashville, Tennessee; Ryan, Evan, and Alexander (Alec) Atkinson of St. Louis, Missouri; and Christine and Laura Atkinson of Westlake Village, California. She is the great grandmother of Hanna and Elijah Lutton and Chloe and Zachary Willoughby.

She is the mother-in-law of Dr. Gary Pearch of Carrollton, Ohio and Julie Atkinson of Westlake Village, California.

In 2011, Barbara moved to Sunrise Assisted Living in Westlake Village, California and enjoyed her life to the fullest until her death, after a brief illness, on February 12, 2013.

Barbara approached all her endeavors including driving, skiing, cooking, working, eating, painting, reading and parenting with NO FEAR and FULL SPEED AHEAD!