Barbara Ann Kline, 73, died at the Simpson Memorial Home in West Liberty, on Wednesday, Feb. 17, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Funeral services were Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010, at the West Liberty United Methodist Church. Visitation was Friday at the church. Burial will be in the Oak Ridge Cemetery, West Liberty. Memorials may be made to Hospice Compassus or the Holden Cancer Center at UIHC. Online condolences can be made to the family at www.hendersonbarkerfunerahome.com.

Barb was born in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 24, 1936, the daughter of Harold and Hazel Romaine. She graduated from West Liberty High School with honors in 1955. While in high school she was a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen. Following high school she went on to graduate from Iowa City Commercial College. She worked as a private secretary for Dr. May who was the head of the Pediatrics Department at the UIHC. On April 16, 1958, she was united in marriage to Harold Kline in West Liberty. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2008. She was a lifetime member of the West Liberty United Methodist Church and the Eastern Star. Ron was born in 1959 and she decided to be a stay-at-home mom. A second son Jim was born in 1961. After the boys were in school she was asked to do tax work for attorney Bob Barclay, she later worked for Sterner and Dowler until retiring.

Survivors include her husband Harold; son Ron (Carol) Kline; two grandsons Derek and Garrett Kline; sister Shirley Young; mother Hazel Romaine; mother-in-law Louise Kline; cousins, nieces and a nephew.

She was preceded in death by her son Jim, father Harold Romaine, father-in-law Elmer Kline and brother-in-law Ray Young.

Barb’s greatest joys were being a wife, mother, grandmother, and homemaker, traveling and being with friends.