Barbara Taylor Clower

Barbara Taylor Clower, age 90, died on September 12, 2022, in Arlington, Texas.  Two of her children were by her side.

Mrs. Clower was born May 25, 1932, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and moved to Gulfport, Mississippi at an early age. She graduated from Gulfport High School in the class of 1950, where she was a member of the National Honors Society. After graduation from St. Mary’s School and Junior College in Raleigh, North Carolina, she attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1954 with a degree in Elementary Education.  While there she became a member of Delta Delta Delta social fraternity.  She returned to Gulfport where she taught fifth grade at Central Elementary School until her marriage to John Robbins Clower, Jr. After her children were older, she became a sales representative at J. C. Clower Furniture Company, the family business. 

Mrs. Clower was a lifetime member of Gulfport Junior Auxiliary, a former member of Gulfport Junior Woman’s Club, the Gulfport Yacht Club, and the Great Southern Club. She was also a member of Revelers and Merry Maskers carnival organizations and the Four Seasons Garden Club.  She was a member of St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church. In her retirement years, she enjoyed the Silver Sneakers Exercise Program and walking on the beach.

Her parents, George Wallace Taylor and Mildred Richards Taylor, and son-in-law, Richard Lee Elmer preceded her death.

Survivors include her husband, John Robbins Clower, Jr.; children, Ruth Helen Clower Elmer, Nancy Clower Hoppe and her husband Christopher Martin Hoppe, John Robbins Clower, III, and Lucy Clower Norris and her husband Lawrence Erickson Norris; grandchildren, William Clower Elmer, Christopher Gehlsen Hoppe, Samuel Robbins Norris, and Claire Layton Norris; and her sister, Ruth Taylor Murdock, her husband William Henry Murdock, and their daughter Margaret Estelle Murdock.

A memorial service will be held on October 1, 2022, at St. Peter’s-By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 1909 15th St, Gulfport, Mississippi at 11:00 am. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15^th Street is honored to serve the Clower family. 

Memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer's Association, 225 N. Michigan Avenue, Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601, St. Peter’s By-the-Sea, or the charity of your choice.