Barbara Rodda

A Funeral Service for Barbara will be held on Monday, March 16th at Sunset Memorial Chapel (7601 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, IA 50321) at 10:30 AM with a committal service immediately following out in the cemetery.

Barbara Rodda was proof that good things come in small packages. A small-town Iowa girl who became a proud Texan. She was a devoted wife, a loving mother, a grandmother who was into her grandchildren, and a great-grandmother who lit up at the sight of the tiniest new faces in the family. And to the people lucky enough to call her a friend, she was simply irreplaceable.

Barb always looked fabulous. She had a great tan, a polished hairstyle and a wardrobe that looked like she'd walked straight out of a magazine. She had a genuine gift for putting an outfit together, and she took real pleasure in it. Even in her famous silver shoes, which she loved right up to the end, Barb knew how to make an entrance.

Barb was a master multitasker in the truest sense of the word. Long before anyone had heard of hands-free anything, she had her own system: a telephone tucked between her ear and her shoulder, leaving both hands free to cook a meal, fold laundry, feed the dogs or scrub a counter. She may well have been the inspiration behind AT&T's iconic "Reach Out and Touch Someone" campaign. Barb loved to talk on the phone. The phone calls were happening regardless of what else needed to get done. But here's the thing: the house still got cleaned. Barb was up and at em before sunrise most mornings, and even on a Saturday, while the rest of the world was still horizontal, she was getting things done. There was a lot of action going on in the kitchen and throughout the house. She was on a mission and there was no stopping her before the day began.

And that brings us to the kitchen, where Barb was absolutely in her element. She was an incredible cook - and Al was no slouch either. Together, they made countless meals for family and friends over the years. Cooking was one of her love languages. A way of saying "I love you" without having to say it at all.

She held many jobs over the years - helping out at her dad's store, a stint in nursing, working as a merchandising rep for Gillette and spending time at the Dallas Market for Karen Kane designer women's wear.

Barb taught her children, Kelly and Jason, kindness, strength and resilience, through life lessons and personal experiences. Because of this, both have learned compassion breeds kindness and strength breeds resilience. These attributes have helped them be better individuals, parents and friends.

Once the kids were grown, Barb found a new adventure: an antique booth she ran with one of her dearest friends, Cheryl. They got paid to shop, which, if you knew Barb, was about as close to utopia as it gets. They traveled to garage sales and fairs, found treasures and made memories. It was a chapter she clearly loved.

Speaking of friends - Barb and Al were blessed beyond measure in that department. They had a core group that stretched back to their school days in Iowa and friendships that lasted a lifetime. They gathered at the Iowa State Fair to relive old memories. They vacationed together. They danced and sang to their beloved '60s music. They laughed until they cried. Barb kept making new friends right up to the very end. A friend at her assisted living said, "She was easy to be friends with."

What made Barb's heart sing was her grandchildren. After Kelly married Nick in 1991 and Jason married Kelli in 1995, the family grew - Then the grandchildren started arriving, Karsen in 1994, Reese in 1999, Madison in 2000 and Molly in 2005, Barb became fully, gloriously alive.

There's a saying that to be a grandparent is to live life twice - once in memory, once in the present. Barb was lucky enough to recognize in each grandchild a laugh she'd seen before, a spark she knew, a little crinkled nose that looked just like someone she'd held years earlier. She saw her children all over again in those small faces, and she loved every second of it.

Barb and Al loved being grandparents. They watched every conceivable episode of Barney and invested heavily in Disney VHS tapes. They bought Barbie dream houses and toddler-sized Barbie Jeeps and John Deere Gators. Barb watched them grow into adults and glowed with pride at every single step.

The family kept expanding. Three of her grandchildren married, and just like that, she had bonus grandchildren to love. It wasn't before long, she became a great-grandmother. Marshal Alan Rodda arrived in 2024, and Bennett Smith Trussell came in 2025.

We will miss Barbara. We'll miss her spunkiness and her silver shoes. We'll miss her distinctive laugh. And we'll miss her love that she had for so many of us.

Love like that doesn't disappear, and it stays with those she loved. And hers will stay with all of us until we see her again.