Barbara Drew

Barbara Jean Drew was born March 23, 1932 in Fort Worth, Texas and spent her early life in Austin with her adoptive parents, James and Louise Fuller (later, Louise Lyles). The family moved with Barbara to Houston in 1947, where she attended Milby High School and met her future husband, Richard Arlen Drew. They married in 1949 and were married 69 years, until the time of Mr. Drew’s death in April 2018. Their three children and their spouses survive them: Glenn Arlen Drew and wife Ann, Constance Louise Drew and husband Gary Johnston, and Bradley Lawrence Drew, whose wife Yvonne Drew-Alvarez thought of Barbara as “the best mother-in-law ever.”

Barbara had profound love for all her family: She was Grandma to her three grandsons, Blake Arlen Drew, Brett Lawrence Drew, and Brooks Cody Drew. She was Gigi to her five great-grandchildren: Madeline Drew, Brett Drew Jr., Taylor Drew, Alexa Drew and Ava Drew. Family was Barbara’s lifeblood, and she was at her most content and satisfied during times of family gatherings.

After returning to school as an adult and graduating with honors from University of Houston with a Bachelor of Science in psychology, Barbara went on to help her husband grow a family business that is still a going concern and has now passed to the next generation of the Drew family.

A life-long student, Barbara was a voracious reader, a lover of conversation and of good company, a perky and sassy line dancing instructor, a loyal friend to so many, and an attentive and thoughtful listener. Her life was full of her many and varied passions: birding, camping and fishing, listening to music and singing, dancing, and gathering with her friends to play card and domino games and to socialize.

Barbara’s years as a line dancing instructor and her golden friendship with the late Faye Henry would define her life for a period of more than two decades, later on in her life. She and Faye were fast friends, and would travel all over to attend line dancing “jams”; in that environment of dancing and music, surrounded by an ocean of friends, Barbara was in full flight, elevated among the crowd to what she saw as the pinnacle of life itself.

Graveside funeral services will be held at Forest Park Lawndale, Monday March 29, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. The service will be entirely outdoors, due to Covid.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a donation to the American Diabetes Association in memory of Barbara Jean Drew:

Online: www.diabetes.org/memorial

By mail:

American Diabetes Association

PO Box 7023

Merrifield VA 22116-7023

Or by phone: 1.800.DIABETES (800.342.2383)

You may see a direct link below in the "Donations" section.