Barbara R. Rowe

Barbara R Rowe of Corvallis died November 15, 2025 at the age of 85 following a period of illness.

Barbara was born September 5th, 1940, In Spokane to Edwin and Lucile Rowe of Northport, Washington. Most of her youth was spent in Eastern Washington, where she graduated from Northport High School in 1958. She attended Eastern Washington State University before moving to Portland in 1960. In 1961, she married Richard D. Wilson, who died in 1964. After attending and graduating Oregon State University, she married Donald P. Reiling of Albany in 1966. They divorced in 1982. Upon receiving her doctorate from Oregon State University in 1985 she joined the faculty as an Extension Family Resource Management Specialist. She spent the first and last seven years of her career at Utah State University with seven years at Purdue University sandwiched in the middle. Her last three years at USU she served as Extension Family and Consumer Science Program Leader. She retired in 2007 and returned to Corvallis.

She gained national reputation for her research, writing, and educational programs in many areas of family finance and small business management. She authored and co-authored books and book chapters, numerous journal articles, and many fact sheets. She served as co-editor and member of the editorial board for the Family Business Review and the Journal of Family and Economic Issues. She received numerous honors and awards throughout her career. Upon her retirement, she became a Master Gardener and spent many happy hours sharing her knowledge and working in her own garden.

Survivors include children Alice Calamar and her husband Gary of Los Angeles,California; Thomas Reiling and his wife Celeste of Corvallis, Oregon; Michael Reiling and his wife Tahara of Salem, Oregon, grandchildren Zoe Calamar and Derek Reiling, and sister Edith McNinch of Colville, Washington.