Barbara Jean Ketchum
OBITUARY
On July 15, 2026, with the waves rolling in at Newcomb Hollow, the boats tied calmly at Wellfleet Harbor, and the Atlantic breezes blowing through her lush gardens, Barbara Jean Ketchum slipped quietly away — as if running to Orleans or Provincetown to pick up lunch supplies or corn for dinner for those in town on their vacation.
Barbara began her life on December 4, 1934, in Cleveland, Ohio, and later moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her college years took her north to Colby-Sawyer Junior College, then to Kent State, and finally to the University of Pittsburgh, where she graduated with her teaching degree.
She married Ezekiel Sargent Ketchum — literally the boy next door — in June of 1958. After putting her degree to work for a few years in a kindergarten classroom, it was soon time to become what she was to all of us: Mom. And what a mom she was.
She and our dad packed up the family — dogs, rabbit, and horses — and made the move across the state to Leesport, PA. It was an old farm with a barn for the horses, a pond, and lots of room for her gardens: vegetable, perennial, rose, rock, and herb. She did love her gardens! She was a busy lady with four kids and their lives, which eventually led to grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But she was never too busy to help others. She volunteered her “extra” time with a wide variety of organizations, including the Girl Scouts, St. James the Fisherman Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, the Animal Rescue League, and the AIM Thrift Shop — the last of these at the age of 90!
It is only fitting that her final weeks were spent with, and anticipating visits from, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in Wellfleet, Cape Cod — in the home she and our dad built in 1992.
She was predeceased by her husband Ezekiel Ketchum and her sister Dorothy May. She is survived by her four children, Allison Kalbach, Randy Ketchum, Sarah Reilly, and Clayton Ketchum; ten grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and Lizzy, her beloved and devoted companion, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to:
Trinity Lutheran Church
527 Washington Street
Reading, Pa 19601
Ketchum Family Scholarship Fund (Memo line- Ketchum Family Scholarship)
Alvernia College
ATTN:Institutional Advancement
400 St Bernadine Street
Reading, PA 19607
Link:
There will be two Celebrations of Life: the first at 10 a.m. on September 3, 2026, at St. James the Fisherman, Wellfleet, MA, and the second at 11 a.m. on November 28, 2026 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Reading, Pennsylvania.