Barbara Ann Botello's Obituary
Barbara Moorhead was born on August 13,1942, in Davenport, Iowa, the first child of Lois (Gruhl) and Dwight Moorhead. She began violin lessons at age 11; her first teacher was William Henigbaum, the concertmaster of the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra, the area’s professional orchestra. By age 15, she was advanced enough to play in an adult community orchestra. The next year, as a junior in high school, she joined the Tri-City Symphony Orchestra in the second violin section and later moved to the first violin section. She played in that orchestra for 13 years and, at times, played in three other orchestras simultaneously as well as a chamber orchestra.She graduated from Davenport High School in the top 1% of the class and attended Marycrest College in Davenport for two years. She married Robert R. Powell, and they had two sons, Robert Jay and Bradley Dwight. Robert’s job transfers took the family to Addison, Illinois; San Pedro, California; Richardson, Texas; and Canyon, Texas (near Amarillo). Barbara played in orchestras everywhere she lived, including the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the Civic Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony’s training orchestras. She received a scholarship from the Civic Orchestra to study with Scott Willits at the American Conservatory. She also played in the Elmhurst (Illinois) Symphony, the Long Beach (California) Symphony, the Baroque Consortium (California), and the Richardson (Texas) Symphony.Immediately after the family’s move to Canyon, she auditioned for the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and finished its 1977 season. She played in the Amarillo Symphony for 25 years, serving as the principal second violinist for five years and the rest of the time in the first violin section. She returned to college at West Texas State University (now West Texas A & M) in Canyon, changing her major from music to English. After receiving a B.A. degree, Cum Laude, she continued for an M.A. degree, also in English. She took many music courses and gave a solo recital. Her teacher was John Sumerlin, a former student of Dorothy Delay at Juilliard. After graduating from the university, she worked as a Montessori teacher, a librarian at the Amarillo Globe-News, and an editor at a large law firm. Robert died in 1987, and she stayed in Amarillo. She met Luis Botello at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Canyon, and they were married there in 1992.While living in Canyon, Barbara was a member of the Canyon Fine Arts Club and the Friends of the Canyon Public Library, serving terms as president of both. She was also active in the Esther McCrory Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.After Luis and Barbara lived for eight years In Amarillo, her law firm was forced to downsize, and Luis’s company had financial problems. Because of the bad job situation in Amarillo, they sold their house and moved to O’Fallon, Missouri, where Luis had a job offer. Barbara was hired as a journal editor at Mosby, the medical publisher. When the journal department was moved to Philadelphia, Barbara became the freelance editor of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics. She and Luis became full-time RVers for a year and a half, and she worked on the computer in the RV and continued editing for many years. They visited relatives and friends in San Antonio; Coral Springs, Florida; Douglas, Georgia; Des Moines and Davenport, Iowa; and Traverse City, Michigan. They also visited interesting places “just because”: Corpus Christi, Mobile, St. Augustine, Savannah, Duluth, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and others. In Missouri, they were members of Zion Lutheran Church, Harvester, and Barbara was trained as a Stephen Minister. She often played her violin at the church and was a member of a string quartet, which gave one performance: a movement of Dvorak’s “American Quartet.” Unfortunately, Barbara broke up the quartet by moving away.After their travels, Barbara and Luis decided to settle in Frisco, where they built a home and eventually joined Lord of Life Lutheran Church. She continued working as the freelance editor of the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, the world’s top orthodontics journal. Barbara was known for keeping busy with sewing for her family and herself, knitting, baking sourdough bread (with starter she received in the 1980s), and gardening. She was also the family historian and inspired her son Bob to take an interest in it. She served on several committees in the Frisco Lakes subdivision.She had learned to knit while she was expecting her first baby and made many items for her family. She became skilled and creative, and often designed her own patterns. She sold six patterns for baby bootees to Leisure Arts. She also knitted for charities: caps for homeless people given out by the Salvation Army in Amarillo, baby caps for Save the Children for mothers in third-world countries, and warm winter items for a battered women’s shelter in Illinois. She made prayer shawls for Lord of Life Lutheran Church’s shut-Ins. She also had a knitting blog and sold her hand-made items at bazaars.Survivors include her husband; sons Robert J. (Vnya) of Dallas and Bradley D. (Cheryl) of Dumas, Texas; grandsons Robert E. (Jody) Powell of Gainesville, Texas, and Zachary and Blake Powell of Dumas, Texas; sister Ruth Moorhead of Davenport, Iowa; brother Gary Moorhead of Laporte, Minnesota; two step grandsons; three great-grandchildren; and five step great-grandchildren.At this time, funeral services for Barbara Ann Botello are scheduled for November 3, 2018 at 12:00 pm at Lord of Life Lutheran Church.Funeral arrangements for Barbara Ann Botello have been faithfully entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Cemetery, which is located at 13005 Greenville Ave., at the intersection of Restland Road, Dallas, Texas 75243, and can be reached at (972) 238-7111.
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