Barbara T. Willey

Barbara (Pud) Turner Willey, (88), died May 17, 2020 at her home in Ft. Lauderdale. She was born on May 7th, 1932 in Hinton, West Virginia, the daughter of Robert Scott and Margaret Jackson Turner. Barbara graduated from West Virginia University in 1954. She was WVU’s Homecoming Queen in 1952 where she was also a cheerleader all four years and a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She moved to Ft. Lauderdale in 1956. After losing her husband on Christmas in 1961, a large contingency of people in the Broward County School system were from West Virginia and they rallied around her to find her a teaching position as soon as possible. After all, she was left alone with three children under the age of five that she committed to raising all by herself. They were the joy of her life. She became a Phys Ed teacher at Northeast High School where she taught for 30 years and was the Cheerleading Coach for 25 of those years. “Her girls” adored her and she loved each and everyone of them along with all her students. She has been described as the mother of Northeast High School. She was held in high esteem by her co-workers whom she considered her extended family. People have remembered her as someone they could rely on for spot-on advice, loved with proper morals taught and always having an infectious smile on her face. There are countless people whose lives she touched in such a positive and sometimes life-changing way simply by being an example of what is good in people. She was a long-standing member of First Presbyterian Church of Ft. Lauderdale. Survivors include her children, Sharon (Willey) Walker, R. Scott Willey, her four grandchildren, Andrew, Ashley, Alyssa and David, great-granddaughter Emily, and niece, Shannon Stucky. Besides her parents, she is preceded in death by her husband, Garnet L. Willey, Jr., and her son, Gregory Alan Willey, and sister, Rebecca Hines. Barbara will be laid to rest, together with her son and beside her husband, at Restwood Memorial Gardens in Hinton, West Virginia. A Memorial and Celebration of Life is planned for 2021, There will be a small graveside service in Hinton, WV October 24th 2020, as she is laid to eternal rest beside her husband and together with her son, Greg. The family requests memorial contributions be made to Vitas Hospice Community Connection, PO Box 645352, Cincinnati, OH 45264, in lieu of flowers.