Barbara Jean Dias

Barbara Dias passed away on February 20th, 2023. Her parents were Phoebe and Harvey W. Turner. She was born and spent her childhood in Honolulu, Hawaii where she walked barefoot to school, learned to dance hula, collected bottle caps for movie tickets and spent many hours on the beach. Her family lived through the traumatic experience of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the 1956 her family moved to Santa Clara, California where two years later she married her next door neighbors’ son Jerry Ray Dias. This July would have been their 65th wedding anniversary. They had three children together (Jennifer Jean, Harvey William, and Rene Barbara) while living first in California and then in Arizona while Jerry completed his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Barbara worked various jobs during this time. In 1972, they moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where Jerry became a chemistry professor and Barbara became a full time homemaker. She spearheaded the remodeling work and furnishing of their first house, attended faculty events, and bustled her children to piano lessons, ballet lessons, and Cub and Boy Scout activities. She also helped raise two grandchildren (Regina Ann and Wayne Victor) during this time. She made sure that her family attended Catholic mass every Sunday. Barbara was good at sewing and made some of her own outfits. She had a unique style of cooking that incorporated Hawaiian and Portuguese cuisine. She was good with finances and her frugal saving and investment skills helped her and Jerry prosper in their later years. Barbara loved spending her free time watching various musicals and movies. She loved tap-dancing movies with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, comedy (Benny Hill, Lucille Ball, and Peter Sellers), and spooky movies. She enjoyed rendering her Count Dracula impressions to tease her husband and kids at the end of the spooky films. After the children moved away, Barbara and Jerry had a new house built where Barbara spent a lot of time flower gardening and decorating. Barbara and Jerry began to enjoy a broader social life in a local casino. They attended numerous movies and concerts. In addition, they travelled to Spain, France, India, and Scotland. Barbara was a strong-willed, compassionate, loving person with a great sense of humor. She had a beautiful smile. She leaves behind her husband, two sisters (Ethel and Emmy), two brothers (Mickey and Doug), three children, 7 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandkids. Barbara will be dearly missed.

Tributes

Barbara Jean Dias

July 9, 1940 - February 20, 2023