Barbara Dale

Barbara Joan Dale, 89, Topeka, Kansas, passed away peacefully in her sleep at home on January 28, 2025. Barbara was born on April 17, 1935, in the family farmhouse near Martinsville, Dallas Township, Harrison County, Missouri. She was welcomed by her parents, Ralph and Amy Burns Poteet, sister, Doris, and brother, John. Barbara spent about the first six years on the family farm, where she learned to ride Old Dolly the horse and help with the chores at an early age. She was never afraid of hard work and was usually working outside. Hired hands were always around to keep Barbara safe; some of these hired hands were Paul Zerbe, Cecil Phillips, and J.V. Faden. The farmhouse was a small, square one-story home with two bedrooms, kitchen and front room. The farm also had an outhouse and a huge maple tree on the southwest side of the yard. Barbara attended first grade at Martinsville School, a big two-story brick building with first through high school in the same building. Her close friends were Phyllis Smith, Clara Belle Beeks and Patsy Fouts. Clara Belle lived in town where her father had a service station. Phyllis and Patsy were within walking distance by ground through the field. Barbara lived on a dirt road and many times the school bus had a hard time making the rounds. The kids would start out walking to school and sometimes were lucky enough to catch a ride and would get to school before the school bus. One of her memories was when Barbara asked her mom if she could stay all night with Clara Belle. Her mom said no, but when she got to school, Clara Belle said she had asked Barbara’s dad, and he said it was alright. So, she stayed all night and as it turned out, it was a Friday, so she stayed all weekend. When Barbara did not come home from school on Friday, her mom started looking for her. Clara Belle had not actually asked Barbara’s dad, but wanted Barbara to stay, so Clara Belle lied, and Barbara believed her. When her dad found out, he just laughed and let her stay. The family moved to the home place of grandparents Charlie and Mary Poteet located just north of Washington Center. This was a big two-story house with a basement and wrap around front porch. The smokehouse and cave were just outside the back door and there was a well east of the house. After moving, Barbara attended the second through eighth grade at Washington Center Grade School, which was a one-room schoolhouse. There was a big heating stove in one corner and a big slate blackboard on the east wall. There were two outhouses – one for boys and one for girls uphill from the school building. Water was in a well outside on the west side of the building. The entrance was on the south side with an entry room to hang coats, a place for lunch pails and a lawyer type bookcase. Two of the teachers were her relatives, Nina Goodwin and Rosalie Schell. When Barbara’s mother cooked three meals a day on a large scale, she didn’t have time to measure things. She just knew from experience. This caused Barbara much stress as she didn’t think she would ever learn to cook or bake by just watching her mother but there was a passion for learning. Barbara’s homemade cinnamon rolls, sticky rolls, dinner rolls, noodles, and pies are just a few things her family remembers. She enjoyed collecting cookbooks through the years and acquired quite a large collection that she enjoyed reading for pleasure. Barbara also had a collection of toothpick holders that belong to grandmothers and great-grandmothers and other family members and friends. On April 12, 1958, Barbara and Larry Dale were united in marriage in Bethany, Missouri at the home of Rev. O.D. Hedges. They celebrated 53 years together before Larry’s death on December 24, 2011. Barbara graduated from Martinsville High School and attended Platt Business College in St. Joseph, Missouri. After moving to Topeka, she had a long career at Southwestern Bell Telephone, retiring after 30 years of service. Following retirement, she became a travel agent for a few years. Barbara’s next adventure was volunteering at the VA Hospital in Topeka; a “job” she did for several years. She became known as the Pie Lady because she stopped by Perkins to pick up day-old pies and deliver them to the VA. In recognition of her dutiful service to the veterans, Barbara was chosen as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) national winner of Outstanding Volunteers. In addition to holding several positions in the local DAR Chapter, she was also a member of the Active Prime Timers, Post Office Letter Carriers Auxiliary, Missouri State, Northwest Missouri and Harrison County Genealogical Societies. Barbara had many interests including gardening, travelling, cooking, feeding the birds, going on dinner theater bus trips with the Active Prime Timers but her passion was genealogy. She also loved the KU Jayhawks. Rock Chalk! Barbara is survived by her daughters, Kimberly Pfeiffer, Topeka, and Pamela Schneider (Gerry) Roeland Park, Kansas; grandchildren, Ryan Pfeiffer (Lisa Cloar-Pfeiffer), Lawrence, Kansas, Kristin Pfeiffer Topeka, Nick Schneider and Mariah Schneider (Ben Brown), Kansas City; proud GG to great-granddaughters, Theia and Ophelia Cloar-Pfeiffer and Evelyn and Emerson Brown; sister, Doris Jones, Hatfield, Missouri; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Larry, brother, John, and son-in-law, Bruce Pfeiffer. Visitation will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at First Christian Church, 1880 SW Gage Blvd, Topeka, KS 66604, where funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Private burial will be in Mission Center Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project or Salvation Army and sent in care of Kevin Brennan Family Funeral Home. Condolences may be sent online to www.kevinbrennanfamily.com

Barbara Dale

April 17, 1935 - January 28, 2025