Barbra Fields

In the 1970s, shortly after Barb and Ron Fields and their three daughters moved to their home in west Medford, Barb heard the neighbors ringing a big metal triangle to call their children in for dinner. She told everyone to grab their plates and forks, and everyone marched next door to join the dinner line. Sue Roberts was surprised, but ready to welcome them in, and they became good friends over the next years. That is how Barbra Jean Fields approached life: with love, laughter, a deep streak of mischief and an enduring sense of adventure. After more than eight decades of traveling and adventures, as of Sept. 28, 2025, Barb, 84, of Falkville, Alabama, was ready to go home. She was born July 22, 1941, in Boise, Idaho, to Henry "Dutch" and Edna "Merle" Nulton. She had a little brother, Dean, whom she protected fiercely and tormented - as a big sister should. The family spent her early years in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, and in Moscow, Idaho, before moving in the mid-1940s to Oregon's Rogue Valley.

She graduated from Medford Senior High School in 1959, then enrolled in the University of Oregon to study journalism. Barb and her college friends called themselves "the motley crew," and it was through them that she met Ronald Fields, whom she married in Medford in 1961. Their 30-year marriage was one of those rare relationships that grew in love each year. They were each other's love of a lifetime. Struggles, moves and even Ron's cancer drew them together. That love provided the base of their home as they parented their three daughters: Jody, Julia, and Jennifer. Ron enlisted in the Air Force shortly after Jody was born, and the family lived in multiple states during his time in the service. After he was discharged in 1970, still wanting to travel, he took a job in Okinawa, Japan, where the family lived for close to a year.

The Medford area remained home, however, and the family returned there in 1971. Barb earned her teaching degree through Southern Oregon State College. She taught kindergarten at Lone Pine Elementary School, then transferred to Kennedy Elementary School when it was built in 1977. She graduated to fourth grade a few years prior to her retirement. In Medford, Barb and Ron went square dancing, attended Applegate Christian Fellowship and held "agape" Bible fellowship classes in their home. Barb led a Girl Scout troop and maintained close friendships with her fellow teachers, a group they dubbed "the wise old owls." All her life, Barb loved gardening, geology, history, learning, art - especially pottery and watercolor - and working with young children. The family had a puppet-making booth for many years at the Jacksonville Children's Festival and would put on shows using appliance boxes as a theater. Barb lived in various homes in Medford and Ashland before moving to Falkville, Alabama, in 2005 to be near Julia and her grandchildren there. In each area, she became active in local churches, joining the Meals Ministry through Ashland Christian Fellowship and becoming a part of First Baptist Church in Falkville. She taught Awana youth ministry classes and held Sunday morning Bible study groups with many close friends. She also had a women's study group once per month and spent Tuesday nights in a group call with her daughters, who prayed and studied the Bible together from their locations across the country.

Everywhere she lived, Barb put in a giant flower garden, and always included irises, her favorite blooms. The West Medford home also included acreage to make the girls' dream of having a horse come true. She also loved to swing. Ron and his father worked together to build an adult-sized swing set, complete with trapeze, in the yard of one of their homes, and later hung swings in the large oak trees of the West Medford home. No matter where she lived, Barb continued to travel and explore. The family often went camping and traveling, once spending a month in 1976 taking a bicentennial road trip that included everything from the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C., to a shrimp boil in Louisiana. She later treated her grandchildren and great-grandchildren to similar adventures. In addition to Japan, she traveled to Europe, Panama, New Zealand and Australia - every continent but Antarctica. Mother-daughter trips included Natchez; Savannah, Georgia; the Florida Keys and Orcas Island in Washington state.

At each stop, she would visit museums, art galleries, national parks, gardens and roadside attractions such as the World's Largest Prairie Dog (a statue in Jackson County, South Dakota). She never met a rock she didn't like and often decided to haul them home for landscaping or her Japanese garden. Gatherings for family and friends happened frequently and always included card and board games. Barb delighted in mischief and fun and loved to laugh. If there happened to be a hose nearby, for instance, no one was safe from a squirt. Once, well into adulthood, she and her friends were kicked out of the Rogue River Lodge for having a water fight. Although Barb often posed for silly pictures, it wasn't easy to find photos of her by herself, because she was always with family or friends.

Husband Ron died before her, but she is survived by her brother, Dean, and his wife, Donna Nulton; daughters, Jody Hill of Albany, Oregon, Julia Bright and husband Joe of Falkville and Jennifer Fields and husband Rich Allen of Chinle, Arizona; grandchildren, Ryan Hill, Emma Conley, Anna Marsh and her husband Tim; David Bright, Shelina Bright and her children Madison, Haley, Isaac and Willow; and a soon-to-be-born great-great grandchild. She also leaves behind Gentleman John, her beloved rescue dog - one of many dogs she loved throughout her life.

Services will be Saturday October 4th at 11am at First Baptist Church Falkville. She will rest with Ron in a place they both loved. There will also be a memorial Service in Oregon, once it is scheduled information will be distributed.