Barbara Jean Sawer

Barbara Jean Sawer, born in McCook, Nebraska on July 8, 1940, the first child of Frank and Dorothy Sawer, was raised on the family farm north of Atwood, Kansas. While in grade school, she joined the local Driftwood Sunflowers 4-H Club and developed a skill for recording and tracking her projects. During her high school years, Barbara was elected club reporter and used her love of writing to report the club’s activities to numerous local publications. Barbara’s writing, reporting, demonstration skills and other 4-H activities resulted in her being selected in 1957 as “Kansas 4-H Girl of the Year”.

Following graduation from Atwood Community High School, Barbara continued her education by enrolling at Kansas State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Home Economics & Journalism. Barbara’s professional career began when she accepted a position with the Extension Office at Montana State University. While working full time, often with the 4-H programs in Montana, Barbara attended classes and received a Master of Education from M.S.U. Seeking further challenges, she opted to pursue her doctorate by enrolling at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Barbara successfully completed those requirements and was awarded a Doctor of Education.

Barbara’s professional career resumed when she accepted an offer from the Office of Extension Services at Oregon State University. Her previous extension service work coupled with her 4-H experiences proved to be a good background for dealing with the challenges offered. The 4-H experience made her familiar with many aspects of the various programs provided through the extension office in Oregon. Barbara worked with the wide variety of programs offered by the Oregon Extension Service. Her organizational abilities along with her writing and presentation skills, were valuable tools for upgrading and creating new programs to be offered by the Oregon Extension Service. Some of these programs made their way into after school offerings. During her career, Barbara authored or co-authored over 40 publications. Many of these were adopted by other states’ 4-H programs. Her authorship of Evaluating for Accountability: A Practical Guide for the Inexperienced Evaluator presented an overlooked concept to 4-H leaders. The book was widely distributed within the U.S. and Barbara was invited to be speaker or presenter at many 4-H seminars, workshops and conventions across the country. Her presentation skills and the inclusion of humor within those presentations, made a memorable experience for an attendee.

Upon her retirement from the Extension Service, Barbara was inducted into the Oregon 4-H Hall of Fame.

Subsequent to that retirement, Barbara continued to maintain her beautiful home, yard and garden. But, needing something more, she established a consulting business. Because this was only part-time work, she was able to pursue her love of travel and found time to visit various sites in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Following full retirement, in 2018, Barbara moved to the Nashville area to be near her family members.

In 2023, in recognition of her many contributions to 4-H during her working career, Barbara was inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame at its annual convention in Pittsburgh, PA.

Barbara completed her earthly travels on February 12, 2026. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Dorothy Sawer and brother Kermit Lee. She is survived by her sister Beverly and husband Curtis Smith, nieces Kristen Smith and Kelly Bell. Her remains will be interred in the Atwood Fairview Cemetery.