Barbara Jordan's Obituary
Barbara Braddock Jordan joined her husband of 53 years in the light on Sunday January 4th 2026. She was born on May 30th, 1947 in the small southern Illinois town of Harrisburg. She grew up around music as her father was a jazz musician who loved the big bands and played upright bass in a Dixie Land band. Barbara would fill in on the drums during rehearsals. When she was 10 she took up the clarinet and played until her senior year. Her father owned the town’s popular gas and service station where Barbara changed tires and did oil changes during high school. Barb was in the homecoming court her junior year and was a member of various school clubs including the student counsel, FHA, and color guard. Barb was a social butterfly who never met a stranger. Her chatting and passing notes in school often caused her to be called out by her teachers. She had a red convertible Jeep her senior year in which she and her friends would cruise the town loop and drive up into the hills looking for excitement. This was a time when wigs and clip on ponytails were popular. Barb reflected back in humor at the times she or a friend would have their wiglet claimed by the wind as it flew from the convertible and landed on the highway and how they would turn the car around and go hunt for it.
After high school having had enough of small town life, she and a friend relocated to Ft Lauderdale Florida where Barb met Harvey who would be her husband for the next 53 years. They loved going to the dance clubs of Ft Lauderdale, their favorite hangout was a club called “The Scene”. Barb in her blonde bouffant hairdo, leather miniskirts, and knee-high gogo boots and Harv in his bellbottom pants and vest but with no shirt to show off his muscles and tan. Indeed they were a handsome couple. Barb was an avid music lover and loved to dance.
Having had enough of the Florida heat and hurricanes they decided to head out west to see the mountains. They ended up in Tacoma Washington where their daughter Kim was born. Barb was an outdoors lover and the family spent much time camping in Mt Rainier National Forest and riding up the mountain trails in their Jeep. After 7 years in the Seattle area and tired of the rain, they decided to head back to Florida. Then settled in Dunedin, Florida where they spent the remainder of their lives. Barb and Harv’s love of the outdoors continued in camp grounds all across Florida as well as on many canoe trips up various Florida rivers. They went on several trips.. Snorkeling in The Bahamas and the Keys, cruising to Cozumel and the Cayman Islands where they would also snorkel, and mountain biking in Colorado. In their older years when trips weren't possible they would find time to drive to Dunedin causeway, sit on the beach and watch the sunset.
Barb worked as a dental assistant for 20 years and then a medical secretary until retirement. She was friendly and giving by nature. She would often bake treats for people or bring flowers to those who were sick or celebrating a birthday. Even when she herself was battling illness, she was always thinking of ways to brighten someone’s day. If you were new to the street, often Barb would be the one to show up on your doorstep with a plate of brownies or cookies to welcome you, and then proceed to give you the friendly scoop about all the neighbors. She was definitely a people person.
A celebration of Life will be held on Sunday January 18, 2026, at 3:30pm
Barb was fun, humorous and thoughtful.. and a bit feisty when she saw fit. She was a devoted loving wife, mother, grandmother and aunt who had a heart of gold. She was preceded in death by her husband Harvey Jordan and is survived by her daughter Kimberly Hatzell, grandson Lenny Hatzell, beloved nieces Lisa, Cynthia, and Beth, and by her God-grandchildren Dennis and Daniel. She will be sorely missed by many. Her Celebration of Life service will be held Sunday January 18th at 3:30 PM at Midway Cemetery Palm Harbor, Florida. If desired, in lieu of sending flowers, donations may be made to the Clearwater Humane Society/ address: 3040 FL-590, Clearwater, FL 33759. Barbara's son's dog named Vader who Barbara loved dearly had come from this organization.
A celebration of Life will be held on Sunday January 18, 2026, at 2:30pm at Moss Feaster Funeral Home, 1320 Main Street, Dunedin, followed by a burial at Midway Cemetery, 16th Street and Kansas Ave, Palm Harbor FL 34683. Family and friends are kindly invited to attend visiting hours from 2pm - 2:30pm at the funeral home.
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