Barbara passed away on Friday, May 19, 2023 in Austin, Texas.  No local services will be held, per her request.

Barbara Butterworth greeted the world on December 5th, 1943 at a Naval hospital in Washington, DC, where her family was living during her father's Naval service. After WWII, her family lived briefly in Chicago before settling into a town just outside Buffalo, NY, called Kenmore. It was here that Barbara spent her formative years and considered this her hometown. During her 7th grade year, her Dad's job transferred the family - her dad, Frank, her mom, Jean, and her brother, Ron - to Minnetonka, Minneapolis in 1956.

After graduating high school, Barbara attended the University of Minnesota, then the Minnesota School of Business. Her first job was with a national advertising agency - Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne. She spent the next 31 years working for large advertising firms, finishing her career in 1992 as an executive secretary to the top partners at NALAC.

In August 1989 she met Michael Phelps - with whom she married on May 4th, 1991 in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, in a small country church. They remained living in a Minneapolis suburb until Barbara left NALAC, at which time they moved to Rice Lake Wisconsin. In 1995 they relocated to Iowa and lived in a few small towns before settling in Shenandoah. Barbara and Michael loved to travel and spent time with their many fur babies - which included many beloved cats and dogs over the years. Michael passed away in March of 2012. Barbara remained in Shenandoah until 2023, at which time she relocated to Texas to be near family.

Barbara always had a great love and respect for all things nature - especially for animals. While living in Minneapolis and working full-time, she volunteered with the Animal Humane Society, eventually becoming the Volunteer Coordinator. She developed the program from scratch and she single-handedly organized 75 to 150 volunteers per year, ensuring the orphaned animals were properly tended to by all that volunteered there. In addition, she was one of the first volunteers who were trained and accepted as information specialists at the Minnesota Zoo when it first opened.

Barbara was also incredibly talented at creating custom crafts. She belonged to a local rubber stamping & bookscaping club, and acted as the club's secretary and newsletter editor for many years. She loved to create special greeting cards for her family and friends and had a few of her card creations included along with an article in a national craft magazine. She's created countless scrapbooks, which are now beloved treasures for her family. She also was a wonderful painter, adding amazing color to ceramic figurines, bringing them to life, as well as nature scenes on canvas.

Barbara passed away May 19th, 2023, and is preceded in death by her husband Michael, grandparents, parents, brother, aunts, and uncles. She is survived by her nieces, Tara Parker, Karey Swartwout and Raimey Jones, her best friend, Joyce, as well as her cats, Nellie and Beans. She was one of the kindest, most genuine and caring people, with a witty humor and an infectious laugh. Everyone that knew her, loved her. She will be greatly missed.