Barbara Blanche Sowards

Dec 30, 1938 -

Mar 4, 2020

Barbara B. Sowards, age 81, passed away on March 4, 2020, at Whispering Rose Manor in Puyallup, Wash., after a short illness with cancer.

Barbara was born on Dec. 30, 1938, in Deep Water Township, Iowa, to parents Edward Haines and Waneta Stewart. She graduated from Renton High School in 1957. In 1958, she married Allen Larson and the couple had four children together. She later married Ralph Sowards and they had one child.

Barbara worked as a purchasing agent for Newberry's while living in California. Later in Washington, she was part owner of A to Z roofing. In 1975, she loaded a flat bed truck and headed to Anchorage, Alaska. She was a purchasing agent at the UAA Bookstore until 1984. She and Ralph started Bering Sea Traders in 1978. After leaving UAA, she ran the business out of a gift store kiosk in the Sears Mall. Barb and family moved to Palmer, Alaska, in 1985. Tired of commuting, she opened a gift store and kiosk at the Cottonwood Creek Mall. She also ran a toy booth at the Alaska State Fair from 1978 to 1998 when she retired and moved to Ocean View, Hawaii. Never to sit still, they started a coffee farm in Pahala, Hawaii.

Barbara moved to Spanaway, Wash., in 2018, after Ralph's passing. She took great pleasure reconnecting with family. She enjoyed working in her yard and watching her Hallmark movies.

She is survived by her children: Darla Kester (Karl), Robert Larson (Laurie), Roger Larson (Kathy) and Debra Terry (Jerry). She is also survived by her brother, Ed Haines and his family; her brother-in-law, Bob Lickingteller; nephew, Barry Roe and family; 16 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Sowards; parents, Edward and Immogene Haines; biological mother, Waneta Johnson; her sisters, Vickey Roe and Claudene Lickingteller; her brother, Duane Krajewski; and her daughter, Tammy Austin.

Private graveside services are being provided by Greenwood funeral home in Renton, Wash.