Barbara Hamilton Bowes Fellows, born December 14, 1937, passed away peacefully at home early Saturday, September 27, 2014, at the age of 76. Though she had recently been battling breast cancer, her family had been hopeful for the future. They take great comfort that her last year-and-a-half was filled with the joy of being Granny to her only granddaughter, Lilly.

Barbara with her granddaughter, Lilly, in February 2014.

Barbara was born in Fredericksburg, VA and raised in Newport News, VA. Her first job as a teenager was working the concession stands at Bayshore Beach, Hampton, VA. She often spoke fondly of time she spent there with her friends, making sodas and hot dogs for each other on rainy days when the beach was quiet. As a very young child, Barbara began drawing pictures as a hobby. Her Grandfather Bowes told her father to encourage her talent. This interest set the direction of her life’s work. She graduated from Huntington High School as a National Merit Scholar and went on to attend the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), graduating with honors in 1959 with a BFA in Illustration. After college she lived in Washington, D.C. with her older sister, Margaret.

For ten years, Barbara worked as a Visual Information Specialist at the Smithsonian’s Museum of History and Technology, now called the National Museum of American History. As a member of the original exhibits design team, she designed the Hall of Clocks, the Hall of Textiles and The First Ladies Hall, among others. During her time at the Smithsonian, she traveled to Western European countries, Mexico, Santa Domingo, North Africa, and many other places in connection with her work. When speaking of her experience there, she would tell how, after so much time putting the exhibits together, she and her colleagues found it odd to have the public in “their museum” when it finally opened in 1964. After the museum opened, Barbara and a friend sailed across the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth (I). With letters of introduction in hand, they received first-class treatment when visiting many of the greatest museums in Europe and the Mediterranean.

It was during her time at the Smithsonian that she met her husband, Balcha Gebretsadik Fellows. Though the marriage ended in divorce, she was most happy that it produced her daughter, Elleni.

She later worked for the National Park Service and finally the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA). She retired from the Senior Executive Service at the DMA in 1994. At some point in midlife, her compassion for animals made her become a vegetarian. She spent her retirement years advocating for animal rights, speaking out against war and listening to audiobooks.

In 2005, Barbara moved from her longtime home in Temple Hills, Maryland to live with her daughter in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While she found the Minnesota winters trying, she loved sharing daily life with Elleni. In 2013, she was overjoyed to become a grandmother to Lilith-Louise. As Lilly grew, she enjoyed spending time reading to her and playing games and children’s videos on the computer.

Barbara was preceded in death by her much loved parents, Louise Southerland Bowes and Paul Emanuel Bowes Sr, many in her extended family and dear friends. She is survived by her daughter Elleni, and granddaughter, Lilith-Louise Yibrehu Fellows; her siblings: Margaret Pitts of Los Angeles, CA; Helena Shields Harrison (Edward) of Cleveland, OH; and Paul Bowes II (Betty) of Newport News VA; her adoptive daughter, Kassech Hawkins (Mallard); stepson, Prize Balcha Funk (Marnel); and stepdaughter, Zena Balcha; five nieces, three nephews, two great-nieces and two great-nephews; as well as her beloved cat, “Most Precious Kitty.”

In accordance with her wishes, Barbara was cremated in a private family ceremony at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis on Friday, October 3rd.

Condolences can be sent directly to the family at home. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that those wishing to remember Barbara support the Prince George’s County Humane Society (http://www.pgspca.org/).

Around 1955

Around 1994

Around 2011