Barbara Jean Kaster Rowley passed away on January 10, 2021 at home in Madison, AL. She was born to Iris W. Hulbert and Frank Cecil Kaster in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. Barbara was preceded in death by her parents and brothers, W. Dean Kaster and Jerry Kaster. Survivors include her children, Michael Rowley (Xizhen) of Huntsville, AL, Lynn (Harvey) Triplett, of York, SC, Patrick Rowley, and David (Fe) Rowley, both of Dallas, TX; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Barbara grew up in Clear Lake, Iowa, on a ten-acre farm. During high school and after graduation, she worked at the Clear Lake Bakery as a baker, a job she loved. While dating and riding with her future husband, Daryl K. Rowley, she was in a severe accident that resulted in the amputation of right leg below the knee. A few years later they married and had three kids in Iowa, then moved to the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, where her fourth child was born. Barbara’s role, however, changed in 1959 due to divorce and she had to re-enter the workforce. Barbara worked at Strickland Transportation for over 15 years, then at Republic National Bank of Dallas, which was later absorbed by Bank of America, until her retirement in 1992. In spite of hard times as a single mother raising four young kids, every Christmas season Barbara would use her love of baking (and her kids) to bake and fill gift boxes of many different cookies to give to all her neighbors and friends.
Barbara was a very loving and giving person. She loved to laugh, was open and joyous to everyone she met, a stranger to no one. She never missed any Wheel of Fortune, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, or Lucifer shows. An avid cross word puzzle and word search aficionado, Barbara would spend hours each day keeping her mind sharp.
Visitation for Barbara will be from 12 to 2 p.m. Thursday, January 14 at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. No other services are planned.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Barbara’s name to the Food Bank of North Alabama.
