Barbara Harrell Bowles, 83, passed away on Dec. 24, 2015, in Suffolk. For 63 years, she was the wife to the late Donald Booth Bowles and was the daughter to the late Ida Byrd Babb and Walter Clem Harrell. Mrs. Bowles was predeceased by a son, David B. Bowles, and brothers, William “Bill” Harrell and James Newman Harrell.

She was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth, graduated from Churchland High School in 1949 and then attended the Louise Obici School of Nursing and was in the graduating class in 1952. Barbara worked for 20 years at Maryview Hospital and many years as a school nurse for Churchland High School.

Mrs. Bowles was a loving wife and mother who supported her husband’s community efforts through the Driver Fire Department and Bennetts Creek Rescue Squad auxiliaries. She supported her sons through Scouting, church youth groups and high school activities. She loved fishing and camping with the family.

Mrs. Bowles leaves behind her son, D. Bruce Bowles and wife, Rhonda, of Suffolk; daughter-in-law, Kathy Bowles; grandchildren, David Kevin Bowles, Kaitlin Little, Larissa Spiker; and great-grandchildren, Matthew and Andrew Spiker, Brendan Bankston, Dylan and Nathan Bowles, and Robert J. (R.J.) Little VI.

A Requiem Eucharist will be conducted on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015, at 1 p.m. by Father J. Derek Harbin at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 424 Washington St., Portsmouth, VA 23704 with a 3 p.m. burial at Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery. The family will receive friends at Baker-Foster Funeral Home, 5685 Lee Farm Lane, Suffolk, on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015, from 6 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society, 4416 Expressway Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23452 or to a charity of one’s choice. Condolences may be registered at www.bakerfoster.com.