Barbara Riley Fugate, passed away at the age of 88, due to complications from congestive heart failure.  She was born in Bryan, Texas, but most of her childhood was spent in Pasadena, Texas when her late parents (James Franklin Riley and Maime Cargill Riley) moved for better job opportunities.

While in school, she played the piano, played the saxophone in the Pasadena High School marching band, and was a member of the National Honor Society.  She played the piano for many weddings and for special events at South Main Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas.  Her favorite songs were from the Sound of Music and Moon River.

Following high school, she attended Baylor University for her undergraduate degree and then pursued her Master's Degree and then her Doctorate of Education in the early 1970s.  For her doctorate dissertation, she contracted with Texas Instruments to determine the effects of calculators in the classroom.  Her research has been cited many times as to when to introduce calculators, which was not recommended in the elementary years.

She married her husband, Kearby Joe Fugate, in August 1962 and they both began a life together in Dallas, Texas.  She obtained a teaching position at Lake Highlands Elementary School and taught there for many years.  During the summer of 1978, she fully packed our 1965 VW bug and with my brother and I stuffed in, we moved to Herndon, Virginia.

She loved teaching math and was a born administrator.  She was elected the math department chair many times due to her organizational abilities. She worked at many schools, but her favorite job was as an assistant principal at Annandale High School.  She loved kids and always encouraged learning to everyone she met.  She was very good at her job and some of her coworkers petitioned to have a flag flown in her honor over our nation's capitol, which was granted.

She enjoyed working with all of her coworkers and said that some of the hardest jobs at Annandale High School were textbooks, schedules, and teacher evaluations, however, the camaraderie she shared with her coworkers made the tasks more enjoyable.  She enjoyed the athletic events, concerts, plays, award ceremonies, and so many other events at Annandale.  Together, they all helped to produce one of the best high schools in Fairfax County Virginia.  Go Atoms!

Following the death of her husband in 2005, she lived a quiet retirement and took time to visit her grandchildren and would babysit the neighbor's child across the street.  Following a serious illness in 2020, she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to be nearer to family.  While living at Brookdale and being the born administrator that she was, she soon had everyone organized and the staff loved her friendliness and her encouragement to them.  I overheard her say many times,  "Obtain your education when you are young, and then go a step further."

She leaves behind her son, Kearby Eric Fugate (DeLee Moore Fugate), grandchildren, Kearby Scott Fugate and Wyatt Shelton Fugate and daughter, Dana Fugate Carr (Andrew Michael Carr), grandchildren, Ethan Michael Carr and Evelyn Michelle Carr.

She will be laid to rest next to her late husband in Reliance, Texas on Friday, August 9th.  She is now with the Lord and will be greatly missed.