Barbara Allen Reddekopp, of Clarkston, passed away unexpectedly Monday, June 12, 2023, while traveling in southern Idaho. Barbara was born to Dorothy Jane and Daniel Hale White on March 16, 1945, in Kansas City, Mo. She was the oldest of three children. Barbara graduated from Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, Calif., in 1963 and attended California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks, Calif., before transferring to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1968 and moved to Seattle to live with her recently widowed mother. Barbara accepted her first teaching position in Worley, Idaho, soon after where she worked alongside a woman who would later become her mother-in-law. Although there were plans to introduce the two, it was the slippery road conditions on a winter night just outside of St. Maries that brought Barbara and Lynn together.
Barbara married Lynn Arthur Reddekopp on Aug. 1, 1970, at Calgary Lutheran Church in Seattle. They had their first daughter, Marla Allyn, while living in Omak, Wash., their second daughter, Julianne Lara, while living in Hastings, Neb., and moved to Lewiston before having their third daughter, Elizabeth Estelle. They remained in Lewiston until Barbara retired from teaching in 2010 when they moved across the river to Clarkston. Barbara worked in the Clarkston School District for over 24 years, teaching mostly fourth and fifth grades at both Grantham and Highland Elementary Schools. Barbara continued working in the schools after retiring, both as a substitute teacher and then as a volunteer. She was well known for reading to the children, something that she continued to do even recently at the public library.
Barbara was very recognizable in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, not just because she had taught so many students throughout the years, but also because she was active in so many organizations. Barbara was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, the Order of the Eastern Star, Beta Sigma Phi, the Washington State School Retirees Association, the Seaport Quilters’ Guild, the Eagles, the Moose and so much more. In addition to all of the activities that kept her calendar full, Barbara loved to travel. During their retirement, Barbara and Lynn traveled to Germany and the United Kingdom to visit their foreign exchange student, all across the United States, and on countless road trips with stops at both antique shops for Lynn and quilting stores for Barbara. She had recently been on a cruise to the Panama Canal, a trip to North Carolina to visit with her brothers, and to Canada. She was planning to attend her 60th high school reunion in California later this summer.
Barbara is survived by her three daughters, Marla Tacito, Julianne Reddekopp and Beth Reddekopp; all of the greater Portland, Ore., area; her three grandchildren, Dalen Murphy, Robert Tacito and Wren Reddekopp; her bonus children Michelle and Dan Henderson of Lewiston; and her foreign exchange son, Manuel Nicholas, of the United Kingdom. Barbara is also survived by her two brothers, Stuart and Howard White, several cousins, nieces, nephews and lifelong friends. She was preceded in death by her husband Lynn, who died June 11, 2022, and her parents.
A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, July 1, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 920 Eighth Ave., Lewiston. A luncheon will be served in the fellowship hall following the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be sent to the Clarkston Education Foundation, P.O. Box 361 Clarkston, WA 99403, the Willow Center for Grieving Children, P.O. Box 1361 Lewiston, ID 83501, or to the nonprofit charity of your choice.
