Barbara Ann Brooke King
Barbara Ann Brooke King, 85, died July 19, 2012. She was born in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 1927, to Maj. John Rutter II and Elizabeth Gerhard Brooke.
As a child, her family was stationed at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and Fort Benning in Georgia. She was the great-granddaughter of Maj. Gen. John Rutter Brooke, who was involved in the Battle of Gettysburg, was a military governor of Puerto Rico and later the first American governor of Cuba after the Spanish-American War.
In 1938, she moved to San Antonio, where she graduated from Jefferson High School with the Class of 1944. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in English at the Texas State College for Women, now known as the Texas Women’s University, in three years. She later moved to Iraan, Texas, where she taught for Iraan Independent School District from 1949 to 1956. There she met O.J. King Jr., who she married on July 5, 1949, at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin.
She was proud of the fact that she was the first woman to be allowed to teach during pregnancy at the Iraan school district. During this period, she also she worked on her Master of Arts at Sul Ross University.
In 1960, she moved with her family to Odessa, where she was active in bridge circles, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Odessa High School Athletic Boosters Club, the American Association of University Women and the Ector County Republican Party. She served as president of the Ector County Republican Women’s Club and was elected as a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1966. During this period, she co-chaired George H.W. Bush’s U.S. Senate campaign in West Texas.
In 1981, she and her husband retired and moved to Marble Falls, where she became in involved in the Garden Club, Helping Center Board and Delta Zeta Sorority. She remained an active member of the sorority until her death. She worked at Marble Falls Elementary School for 10 years before retiring again.
Survivors include sister Caroline Brooke Schindler of Wimberley; sister-in-law Betty Brooke of San Antonio; daughter Kathy Kasparek of Marble Falls; son Douglas S. King and wife Angela of Aledo; grandchildren Wyly T. Wade and wife Kadambari of McLean, Va.. Wendilynn Wade of Seattle, Jason King of Cincinnati, Kathleen Wyatt and husband Jamison of Philadelphia, Andrea King Janoush and husband Will of Madison, Miss., and Logan Brooke King of Aledo; and great-grandchildren Kyra Barbara Wade and Colton Graham Wyatt.
She was preceded in death by her husband; brother John R. Brooke III; and son-in-law Jimmie Daniel Kasparek Jr.
A service is 10 a.m. July 28 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marble Falls. Interment of her ashes and a reception will follow at the church.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Helping Center, 1315 Broadway, Marble Falls, TX 78654; or to a charity of choice.
Condolences may be made at www.clementswilcoxfuneralhome.com.
Arrangements by Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home, 1805 U.S. 281 in Marble Falls, (830) 693-4373.