Barbara Jean Chace (née Reed) was born on May 13, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri, to Guy Ralph and Ruth Anna Reed. It is likely that she did not elect to be born on that day, perhaps having been chased from the womb. Just as Esau was followed by Jacob, Barbara Jean too was immediately followed by her identical twin sister Bonnie Jane, born two minutes later. Barbara and Bonnie were inseparable all their lives.

Growing up one of six Reed sisters, as a young girl Barbara worked at Sunnybrook Dairy, her father’s small store in Argentine, Kansas. By the time she graduated high school in 1964 from Shawnee Mission West, Barbara had been elected to the Student Congress, served as Homeroom Treasurer (while Bonnie was Homeroom President), and the twins were both members of the Drill Team for three years. Reminiscent of the 1961 film The Parent Trap, Barbara and her doppelganger Bonnie regularly fooled classmates and teachers during their school years by switching places in classes and at social events.

This mischievous nature even extended to the first date she ever had with Brian Keith Chace, a fellow student she met while attending college at JUCO, who would later become her husband. When Brian arrived at the door of the Reed family home, Barbara Jean and Bonnie Jane both appeared side by side. At a loss for determining which sister was to be his companion for the evening, and with no help being offered by the twins, Brian was forced to take them both out for the date. After that, he quickly figured out how to tell them apart.

In 1967, Barbara and Brian were married and spent their honeymoon in St. Louis, going up in the recently opened Gateway Arch. Brian was a schoolteacher, and Barbara aspired to become a legal secretary. However, their lives and plans were put on hold when the Vietnam War brought Brian’s teaching days to a temporary halt as he was drafted into the Air Force and sent overseas, and Barbara was left to take care of a very active new baby boy while Brian was away. Years of living on Air Force Bases around the United States followed when Brian returned from the war and continued his service as a B-52 Captain. Another boy was born in Big Spring, Texas, while the family was stationed there. Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Merced, California, and finally, Marquette, Michigan, all served as their military homes during these years.

Moving back to Kansas City in 1973, Brian and Barbara were back home, surrounded by family and friends once more, and Brian took up teaching again. Barbara revived her legal secretary pursuits and astounded her young sons by showing them the shorthand she could fluently write while taking notes at the Law Firm where she worked. To the boys, it looked like magical chicken scratch.

Barbara was a joyful person, and was always ready to do something fun, but she was also always ready to help anyone who needed it. She loved to be around people, and her house was continuously open to visitors. This was true as the Chace family lived in Westwood, Kansas, where their first daughter was born. And, it was equally so when the family moved up to Parkville, Missouri, and started attending Northland Cathedral Assembly of God, where some of the family’s best and lifelong friends were found. Sundays after church typically meant a household full of people that Barbara asked over from the congregation or allowed her children to invite for the afternoon meal.

By 1982, the family had settled firmly into Parkville, and the second daughter and last child of the family was born. Two boys, two girls, the family was complete. Barbara was the definition of proud mother, always ready to relate to her many friends all of the activities and accomplishments of her children.

Barbara and Brian started their own business Chace Medical in Parkville, Missouri, and they ran the company from 1983 until 1996, moving their office location to North Kansas City, then to Gladstone and finally to Boardwalk Shopping Center. Brian pressed the flesh to make the sales, while Barbara ran the office and processed the billing to keep the cash flow coming in. They made a great team and a great success of their company.

As the 21^st Century approached, the children began to fly the coup – their peregrinations doubtless inspired by the earlier wanderlust of their parents while Brian was in the Air Force. Barbara’s oldest went to the Netherlands to pursue a career in telecom. The second boy joined the Army, became a helicopter pilot and went off to war like his father before him, eventually settling in Indianapolis when he retired. The oldest daughter became the most studious child, receiving her bachelor’s degree before any of her siblings, then landing in the world of Global Human Resources, finding her place in Chicago. And the youngest child plotted her own path in the world, becoming a trusted PA and an office manager, while remaining content to call Kansas City her home. All of Barbara’s kids gave her grandchildren, 15 in all, as she transitioned from proud mother to beaming grandmother.

Settling into retirement, Barbara loved three things: opening her home to the guests she always welcomed, visiting her children and grandchildren whenever and wherever possible, and watching CSI – Crime Scene Investigation. Gladstone, Missouri, remained her home for most of her elder years, and she got on pretty well in her three favorite pursuits, even making it over to Europe five times to visit as life events overtook her oldest child, and grandchildren kept arriving. London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw and Amsterdam all knew her. Indianapolis also saw her often, as did Chicago. And Kansas City always welcomed her home when she returned from her travels.

Sadly, those many wonderful visits have come to an end, and now Barbara will be welcomed to another new home by two of her sisters, Sharon Viola Reed and Bonnie Jane Wilson, who preceded her in death. The last three years have been rough on Barbara’s health, and she began to decline more severely after her twin Bonnie died in 2019. Her immense strength and abundance of life has finally left her. Barbara Jean Chace died on April 10, 2021, in Kansas City, Missouri.

She leaves behind a bereft Brian Keith Chace of Shawnee, her husband of 53 years, Jeffrey and Marzena Chace of the Netherlands, Douglas and Sherry Chace of Indianapolis, Sharon and Mike Purnell of Chicago, and Lauren and Jeremey Dougherty of Kansas City, as well as an army of loving grandchildren and nieces and nephews, and her surviving sisters Ruth Leaton, Ginger Harding, Sandra Slade, Robin Reed, and Tracy Reed.

Barbara Jean Chace will always be remembered for her soft heart and sweet demeanor. She will be sorely missed. A celebration of her life will be planned for later this spring. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name to Kansas City Hospice House at 12000 Wornall Road, Kansas City, Missouri. For more information about the celebration being planned, please contact Douglas Chace at (317)372-9964.