\t\t\tBarbara Jean Ketchum \t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\tOBITUARY\t\t<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 as if running to Orleans or Provincetown to pick up lunch supplies or corn for dinner for those in town on their vacation.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She married Ezekiel Sargent Ketchum \u2014 literally the boy next door \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
She and our dad packed up the family \u2014 dogs, rabbit, and horses \u2014 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 \u201cextra\u201d 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 \u2014 the last of these at the age of 90!<\/p>\n
It is only fitting that her final weeks were spent with, and anticipating visits from, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in Wellfleet, Cape Cod \u2014 in the home she and our dad built in 1992.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to:<\/p>\n
Trinity Lutheran Church<\/p>\n
527 Washington Street<\/p>\n
Reading, Pa 19601<\/p>\n
Ketchum Family Scholarship Fund (Memo line- Ketchum Family Scholarship)<\/p>\n
Alvernia College<\/p>\n
ATTN:Institutional Advancement<\/p>\n
400 St Bernadine Street<\/p>\n
Reading, PA 19607<\/p>\n
Link:<\/p>\n