Barbara Jean Maddox

Barbara was born in San Diego, California on September 17th, 1927 to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Jones. She was the first-born child and an older sister to Kenneth Gerald Jones, born 8 years after Barbara. When she was a young child, the family moved to Grand Canyon Village, Arizona where her father was employed as a blacksmith. She started grammar school there.

After a move to Flagstaff, Arizona, another move sent the family back to California to the town of Wilmar. She was a member of the first graduating class of Mark Keppel High School in Wilmar in 1945.

When Barbara was 11 years old, during a family holiday gathering, she met her future husband, Rowland A. Maddox, who was supported by and living with her cousins in Arlington, California. He was 13 at the time. They had eyes for each other right away.

When the Second World War broke out, Barbara worked in a machine shop while attending high school, making parts for the equipment and machinery that our troops were using in the battlefield. When Rowland enlisted in the Navy, Barbara was 15. She consistently provided moral support by writing daily letters to him. Their communication included care packages and love letters, and by the time Rowland returned home their engagement was a done deal.

Barbara and Rowland were married November 9th, 1945, when she was 18 years old. Since Rowland was only 20 years old, he had to get certified written legal permission from his mother to wed. They purchased their first home in East Los Angeles for $6500, and gave birth to their daughter, Ronda Jean, on February 9th, 1947. When Ronda was 6 years old, Rowland and Barbara adopted a 2½-year-old son, Bradley Eugene.

In 1954 Barbara and Rowland attended a Billy Graham crusade in Los Angeles. It was at this crusade that they both gave their lives to Jesus, along with their daughter. They began attending Hope Union Church and grew in their new faith together.

When her children were grown, Barbara went back to college to earn her Associates Degree in Respiratory Therapy and became a Pulmonary Technologist at Glendale Memorial Hospital. She was the head of the Respiratory Inhalation Therapy Department until 1976 when she and Rowland moved north to Placerville, California to complete their retirement home in the country. Barbara spent her days learning to weave on a loom given to her by her aunt, becoming a country homemaker, canning and dehydrating fruits, and growing vegetables in her garden. She really enjoyed this slower pace of life.

When her daughter passed away in 1984, she and Rowland committed themselves to raising their grandchildren, Jenni and Joel Hendley, postponing their retirement. After the kids moved on to college, Barbara became involved in Precept Ministries as a qualified Precepts teacher and touched many young ladies’ lives through the study of Scripture. Barbara also volunteered with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department and the local Placerville Police Department. She was also involved in many other community activities, including being a docent at the Old Coloma Cemetery. In 2007, Barbara and Rowland moved to Upland, CA to be near their grandson, Joel, and his family.

The legacy Barbara leaves is one of great devotion to our Lord Jesus and unwavering faithfulness to his cause. Her greatest joy was to help others know him. Her life was full and blessed.

She is survived by her husband. married in their 70th year, Rowland A. Maddox; her brother, Kenneth Jones (wife DeeDee); her son, Bradley Maddox; 4 grandchildren: Jenni, Joel (wife June), Heather, and Jessica; and 8 great grandchildren: Adam, Mallory, Natalie, Kate, Allison, Micah, Abigail, and Caleb.