Barbara Ann Lucy, age 69, of Leawood, KS, passed away peacefully on Jan. 12, 2026. She was born September 2,1956, in Teaneck, NJ, to John and Dorothy (Pat) Burke and spent most of her childhood in Harrington Park, NJ. She moved to the Kansas City area in 1992 with her family.
Barbara was a proud Mom of three sons, Michael, Thomas (Allison) and Stephen; a great Nana for her two grandchildren, Brooklyn and Griffin; and a wonderful wife to James, her husband of 38 years. She is survived by her three sisters, Patti Erickson; Mary Jane Hamilton (Jim); Jill Malinchak (Alan); and brother, Jack.
Barbara had a generous heart, an unforgettable laugh and for years loved knitting, needlepoint and other crafts. She enjoyed taking swimming classes and traveling with her family on countless car trips over the years. Some of her favorite adventures were traveling to South Dakota’s Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park’s bison herd; visiting Yellowstone National Park; camping on North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island and in Rocky Mountain National Park; seeing the Annual Gingerbread House Competition at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC; and adding to her seashell collection from the beaches on Florida’s Sanibel Island. She was not particularly fond of flying, but enjoyed trips to Bermuda, Toronto, San Francisco and California’s north coast.
A graduate of New Jersey’s Berkeley Secretarial School, Barbara worked as a corporate secretary for BMW, Burlington Industries and several other companies. She also worked for several years as a phlebotomist at Hackettstown Hospital, Hackettstown, NJ, before getting married and becoming a mom. She always believed being a full-time mom raising her three sons was the best job in the world and that raising her three sons was her greatest accomplishment.
Barb died just four days after the diagnosis that the breast cancer we thought was in remission had spread to her liver, fortunately in peace and with little pain. She accepted her final illness with incredible grace and without complaint, very likely, because of her strong faith.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 13 in the Wesley Chapel at the Church of the Resurrection, 13720 Roe Ave. Leawood, KS 66224. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Heartland Lab Rescue / www.heartlandlabrescue.com, the Edmond, Oklahoma-based organization from which the Lucy family adopted Barbara’s beloved Labrador Retriever, Sandy.