Barbara Wiszowata Barkley

Barbara was born on May 7, 1953, in Monki, Poland to the late Tadeusz Wiszowaty and Janina Korkus Wiszowata; she was the second of three children. In 1965, her family made a life-changing decision to move from Poland to Chicago, IL, in search of living the American dream. Always up for a challenge, Barbara adapted quickly to life in a new country, where she enthusiastically learned the English language and excelled throughout her school career. In 1973 she was transferred from her computer job with Amoco/BP to the newly built Credit Card Center in Raleigh, NC. It was here that she met the love her life, Clifton, and they were married on the island of Kauai, Hawaii on her birthday, May 7, 1985. Barbara’s proudest accomplishment was the birth of her daughter Natalie, whom Barbara endearingly nicknamed ‘Toots’, on June 21, 1986.

Barbara’s career continued with her computer work with Amoco/BP and Nortel Networks. In 2000 she made a complete career change to become a Real Estate Appraiser, which ended up being a job she truly loved. She worked for Wachovia, which became Barclays, and retired in September 2010.

Barbara was an energetic and driven person, always on the move. She was very involved with Junior Achievement in Raleigh during her early years working at Amoco, sharing her creativity with young high school students and mentoring them to succeed. On April 13, 1981 she was naturalized as a US Citizen and proudly displayed and kept that little American Flag given to her. Barbara also loved: macramé, painting, making endless lighted balls out of chicken wire, decorating for Christmas, cooking Polish food (sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage, perogies, and polish sausage), and gardening, where she proudly displayed her green thumb. She would regularly scope out the plant clearance section at garden centers, where she would purchase near-death plants and nurse them back to life. Barbara’s gardens were always thriving and she frequently shared her plants with friends. Barbara was also passionate about physical fitness. She was a familiar face at both Fitness Connection in Raleigh and the Emerald Isle Recreational Center. She not only enjoyed focusing on her own fitness, but also genuinely wanted to encourage and motivate others.

Barbara and Cliff purchased a home in Emerald Isle, where they would spend countless weekends and weeks year round. In September 2010, after she retired, Barbara was finally able to spend more time at the coast, where she could garden, work out, and enjoy her beach.

In 2014 Barbara created a YouTube channel to document her hobbies and what she was enjoying ‘today; she decided to call it BasiaToday. Her early videos show her garden, favorite recipes, her cat Sammy, and documented days on the beach. Cliff purchased Basia a metal detector in the summer of 2014 and this quickly became her new favorite hobby and the main subject of her channel. Through YouTube, she made many metal detecting friends and was able to learn everything she could about her new favorite hobby. She became a familiar face on the beaches of Emerald Isle, and was often recognized by her YouTube subscribers while she was swinging her machine and digging up treasures. After each find she would announce “I’ll take it!”, which became her catchphrase. Of everything she found on the beach, nothing would give her more joy than to dig up rings. On May 24, 2018, she found a beautiful ring, which would be one of her final finds. This find was documented for YouTube – she could hardly contain her excitement as she examined the gorgeous diamond ring, “I am absolutely thrilled…what a hobby this is. Absolutely awesome!”

She is survived by her life companion and husband of 33 years, Clifton F. Barkley; her cherished daughter: Natalie Barkley (Daniel Wallenslager); her only sister: Maria Allred; her niece: Dana Wiszowaty; her nephews: Sam Wiszowaty, Michael (Nicole) Allred, and Alan (Laurin) Allred; her great-nieces and nephews: Kristen, Noah, Caleb, Adam, Mary, Meagan, Julia, Victoria, and Jonah; and her Barkley family: Silva, Frank, Heather, Dustin, Jenna, Amanda, and Maebelle. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother: Chris Wiszowaty; brother-in-law: John Allred; father-in-law: Clifton Barkley Sr.

Family will receive friends on Saturday, June 23rd from 4-6pm at Mitchell Funeral Home (7209 Glenwood Avenue).

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in memory of Barbara to the Emerald Isle Recreation Center and the people there she loved so much. Donations will be used to purchase an AED Defibrillator for the fitness room; with this a plaque will be added with Barbara’s name next to it on the wall. Checks can be made payable to: EI Parks & Recreation, with Barkley in the memo, and mailed to:

EI Parks and Recreation

Attn: Alesia Sanderson

7500 Emerald Drive

Emerald Isle, NC 28594