Barbara Carol Walker passed away peacefully with her husband, Dave, at her side at the Norwalk Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Norwalk on Thursday, December 14, 2023 after a long battle with dementia and other health-related issues.

Barb, the ninth of ten children, was born on December 9, 1945 in Des Moines, IA to Kenneth & Esabee Reed. Barb accepted Christ as a child and spent years taking herself to Church and serving the Lord. She spent her teenage years involved in cheerleading, FFA, and babysitting for her many nieces and nephews. She took so much pride in her family and was known as the spunky "Aunt Barbie" to so many. Barb graduated from North Polk High School in Alleman, Iowa in 1963 and was named FFA Queen during her time there. She modeled for Fresca shortly after high school.

In 1963, at the age of 18, Barb married her one and only true love David Max Walker of Des Moines. Together Barb and Dave raised five children, enjoyed their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and were married for 60 years. During that time, Barb worked for National Cash Register in Des Moines and was the first female to ever earn "Salesperson of the Year" across the nation. In 1981, she started her own successful paper distribution company, Hamco Walker Paper, which is still in business today. Barb appealed to her customers with homemade cinnamon rolls, dressing to the nines, and treating everyone like gold! She was truly an entrepreneur and juggled work, motherhood, spoiling Dave, and spending time with grandchildren while simultaneously wearing high heels. Barb wore high heels to mow the lawn, cook dinner, ride horses and once on the golf course (which Dave was not very happy about). Barb also loved playing board games (but she never let the kids win on purpose), going to the movies with her grandkids, hitting the casino, and fishing with Dave on the weekends. The couple spent almost every wedding anniversary fishing in South Dakota.

Barb was a bright spark for everyone she met. She was truly "one of a kind" and she had a zest for life that everyone valued. She had a way of making you feel beautiful, special and loved. She remembered birthdays and never missed a baby or bridal shower. She always got up, got dressed and showed up for her day and for others, even through a lot of trying health issues, including a serious brain aneurism that almost ended her life in 1993. Barb's battle with serious health issues and dementia has been a long and hard one, but she kept smiling and always found ways to show her love for her family right up until the end. She also loved to give back to the community, various causes and even to families in the grocery store with young children that struggled to make ends meet. She will be dearly missed by everyone she touched, but we gratefully know in our hearts she is in heaven and at peace. In the words of so many, "If anyone deserves to be in heaven, it's Barb." Truer words have never been spoken.

Barb is survived by her husband, David Walker; children, Susan (Scott) O'Conner, Sherri (Greg) Broadbent, Jannie (Ced) Johnson, Chad (Robin) Walker, and Jennifer (Alan) Downe; grandchildren, Shantelle (Wes) Hope, Sean (Erryn) O'Conner, Seth (Holly) O'Conner, Alex (Jodi) Broadbent, Nick (Lindsay) Broadbent, Danielle (Jake) Anctil, Jerico Bailleu, Jeremiah Bailleu, Isaiah Walker-Stevens, Amber (Dannie) Strable, David (Tavish) Walker, Robert (Tayler) Walker, Sarah (Brady) Kyner, Kailey Walker, Haley Downe, Addi Downe and Alyssa Downe; great-grandchildren, Zoe, Ava, Hadley, Camden, Aliza, Sullivan, Theodore, Lawson, Franklin, Landry, Gentry, Nora, Leah, Benjamin, June, Mae, Ruth, Jace, Mila, Calvin, Henry, Brent, Cannon and Marie; and brothers, Larry (Sherri) Reed, Leonard Reed, and Rick (Corazon) Reed.  She was preceded in death by her grandson, Skye O'Conner; granddaughter, Angelique Stevens; parents, Kenneth and Esabee Reed; siblings, Ray Reed, Eugene Reed, Lawrence Reed, Doris Keller, Soundra Reed and Gary Reed.

Funeral services will be held 10 a.m., Monday, December 18, 2023, at the Winterset Community Church, 113 South 2nd Street, Winterset, Iowa 50273, with burial following in the Linn Grove Cemetery, rural Prole, Iowa.  The visitation will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Sunday at the Winterset Community Church.  Memorials may be given, in Barb's memory, to the Winterset Community Church, to be partially given for community outreach.