Obituary - Barbara Jean Gildow

Tuesday, March 13, 2007
THE JUNEAU EMPIRE

Former Juneau resident Barbara Jean Gildow died March 2, 2007, at the Evergreen Convalescent Center in Olympia, Wash., after a brief bout with pancreatic cancer. She was 78.

She was born May 18, 1928, in Chehalis, Wash., to Frank and Lula Luttrell Butler. She graduated from Tenino High school in 1946 and married Richard Louis Gildow in the First Baptist Church of Reno, Nev., on May 5, 1950.

She was secretary to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Washington for a number of years before moving to Juneau, where she worked for the Department of Education and eventually served as secretary to former Alaska Gov. Keith Miller. In the 1980s, she returned to Olympia after a time in Las Cruces, N.M.

Family members said she was a meticulous housekeeper, record keeper and a busy knitter, creating many sweaters and baby blankets for her nieces and nephews. In recent years, she played piano and directed a senior men's quartet at Evergreen Christian Community Church.

In recent years, Barbara was especially blessed by a faithful friend, Georgia Mahlum, said family members.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 1989; a half-sister, Elzada (Pearline) Osborne; and brother, P.F. Jim Butler.

She is survived by her sister, Irene Butler Avery, of Pasco, Wash.; four half-brothers, Elmer Dodge and Thomas, John and Dennis Carter; numerous nieces and nephews; and friend, Georgia Mahlum.

Donations in her memory may be made to a children's hospital of your choice.

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