Barbara Ann Blackburn

Barbara Ann (Ormeroid) Blackburn, age 93 of Overland Park, Kansas was welcomed into the presence of her loving Lord on Friday, March 24, 2023.

Barbara was born to Moulton and Leona Ormeroid on April 14, 1929 in Warren, Ohio.  She was the middle child with an older brother, Bob, and a younger sister, Marjorie, to whom she was very close.

Barbara was a faithful Pastor’s wife after serving alongside her husband, Carl, as missionaries to Congo, Africa. With Carl, she bravely left behind family and the comforts of home, with two daughters in tow, to live in remote African villages for eight years.  She delivered three more children while on the mission field in Congo.

Barbara came to faith in Christ as a young girl, having grown up in a devoted Christian family.  Over the years, she taught women’s Bible studies, led children’s backyard Bible clubs, taught Vacation Bible School and Children’s Sunday School classes. Barbara had a beautiful soprano voice, sang in various church choirs, and sung many solos and duets over the years of ministry.  Barbara tenderly led all five of her children to the Lord, as well as numerous women and children in Africa and the United States. 

Barbara primarily was a homemaker while also babysitting, providing ironing services, Avon sales, and for a few years worked at a Doctor’s office and then at a Sears and Roebuck Store to help the family make ends meet.

Barbara was a loving, humble, soft-spoken wife to her husband, Carl, with whom she was married nearly 70 years.  She was a devoted mother to her children – four daughters, Ruth Lowe, Mary Ann McCullough, Martha (Jeff) Rudd, Becky (Bill) Blake, and one son, John (Beth) Blackburn.  She was grandmother to 12 wonderful grandkids, and great-grandmother to 34 precious great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Lenexa Baptist Church, Lenexa, Kansas, on April 22 at 1:00pm.  In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to either Lenexa Baptist Church Missions, or to Monarch Hospice & Palliative Care.