Barbara Barber

Funeral services were held at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 10, at the Kadoka City Auditorium, with Larry Beck officiating.

Interment was in the Kadoka Cemetery. Rush Funeral Chapel of Philip, SD, was in charge of arrangements.

Barbara Ann Roggow was born July 30, 1944 in Burke, SD to Lawrence and Faye Roggow. She followed a brother, Gary. They lived on the Missouri River until it was flooded for the Ft. Randall Reservoir.

They moved the house up on the ridge following the flood, overlooking the Missouri River breaks. Barb was followed by a sister, Norma Jean and a younger brother, Doug. She attended River View Country School from grades one through eight. She attended high school in Burke, SD, graduating in 1962.

With her dad, Lawrence, working construction in the summers, Barb got to see a lot of country, not only in South Dakota but in Wyoming as well, attending several different high schools along the way in the fall and returning to the farm and Burke High School in the winter.

Barb attended Kadoka High School for part of her freshmen year. This is where she caught the eye of Ron Barber. When she returned the summer after graduating high school in Burke and he was on leave from the army, the two met at the Interior rodeo, followed by a night of dancing in Kadoka. She saw him off on the bus in May, met him at the bus in July, and married him on December 7, 1962 (Pearl Harbor Day). To this union, Jeff was born in May of ‘64, followed by Jodi in May of ‘68.

Barb followed Ron to Winner, SD, while he was working for the SD highway engineers. Then they moved to Sioux falls, SD, while Ron attended Barber College in 1966. Following graduation, Barb and Ron moved to Burke, Belle Fourche, and Lead, where he worked as a barber.

Wanting to raise the kids in the country, they decided to take a job managing a ranch just south of Wasta, SD. In 1971, they returned to Kadoka and raised their kids and pigs and fed cattle. Barb took a part-time job at the Kadoka Retirement Home. This opened the door to a full-time job with Dr. L.P. Swisher. With his help and encouragement, she returned to school to become a certified medical assistant as well as a certified physician’s lab/radiology technician.

In 1986, Ron took a job with the Rapid City Water Department. Barb continued to work for the Kadoka Clinic, flying back and forth with Dr. Swisher until 1988. After working for Dr. Swisher for 16 years, she decided to join Ron permanently in Rapid City and took a job at Ellsworth Air Force Base, working in many different medical departments, finally retiring as head of the Aerospace Medicine Program in 2009.

In 1993, Barb and Ron built their dream home in the Black Hills, just east of Black Hawk/Piedmont, building it from the ground up themselves with help from friends, Marv and Dar Thomkins.

Following her retirement, Barb found much joy in her garden, flowers, home and most of all, her grandkids.

After being diagnosed with Lupus in 2010, Barb was in constant pain and developed fibrosis of the lungs from her treatment for the lupus. She was placed on oxygen the last five years and passed away on December 4, 2021 at Monument Health in Rapid City, SD.

Survivors include her husband Ron Barber; two children Jeff (Brenda) Barber of Rapid City, and Jodi Hericks (Kevin Fischer) of Piedmont; grandchildren Dacotah Barber (Blaze Davidson), Taylor Brink (Tanis Koehn), Rhiannan Shippen, Sarah (Jeremy) Dickey, Hope Hericks and Coy Fischer; six great-grandchildren; two brothers Gary (Janie) Roggow of Casper, Wyoming, and Doug (Peg) Roggow of Gregory; one sister Jean (Jeff) Hamling of Rapid City; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents Lawrence and Faye (Slagel) Roggow.