Barbara Hoesch Flake passed away peacefully on February 12, 2023 at the age of 83 in Huntsville, AL. Barbara was born on September 21, 1939 in St. Louis, MO to George and Ruth Hoesch. She was the oldest of three children with two younger brothers, George Hoesch Jr. and John Hoesch.
She graduated from Bayless High School in St. Louis, MO in 1957 and after that attended the University of Missouri in Columbia. After college, she met her future husband and moved from St. Louis, MO to Columbia, TN before finally settling in Decatur, AL.
While in Decatur, she raised her three boys, Mark, John, and Jared and was very active in the community including being the President of the Morgan Co. Humane Society for 10 years, the Junior Service League and the Decatur Cotillion.
Once her children got a little older, the entrepreneurial side of her started to surface and in her late 30’s she started a tax preparation business and then added her mortgage loan business. After several years running her mortgage loan business, she sold her company to Regions Bank and worked for them for several years including stints in Decatur, AL, Houston, TX, Montgomery, AL and eventually Huntsville, AL. She was eventually hired away from Regions by Countrywide in 2002 and worked for them before retiring in 2007.
Barbara loved traveling and experiencing different cultures including camel rides at the Great Pyramids of Egypt, shopping the souks market of Marrakech in Morocco, the famed rail systems in Japan, safaris in Africa, antique shopping in France, and meeting Prince Albert in Monaco.
Survivors include her three children Mark, John, and Jared (Lisa); her brother John; and her four grandchildren, Bradford, Catherine, Mary Tynes, and Caldwell.
In her own words, “it was a life well lived”.
A memorial service will be held at Church of the Highlands in Madison, AL on Wednesday February 15 at 1 p.m.
Those wishing to honor her life can make a donation to the Big Oak Ranch, 250 Jake Mintz Road, Gadsden, AL 35905, or a charity of your choice.
