The oldest of six children, Barbara was born to Stanley and Bertha Brittingham in Butler, Missouri. Growing up, her favorite childhood memories took place at the family’s home on Cherry Street in Nevada, Missouri. With five other siblings life was always an adventure at the Brittingham household. Just ask her brothers and sisters about the one day that she brought home a pigeon that in her typical tongue-and-cheek fashion she named Homer.
Barbara thrived during her time at school excelling academically — ultimately graduating in the top 10 percent of her class. She also poured herself into extracurricular activities like the school newspaper Crimson and Gray and the National Honor Society. Toward the end of her sophomore year at Nevada High School she found her first “real” job working at Citizens State Bank as part of the school’s COE work/study program. It was a job she held until after her graduation in 1963. She was always grateful to the owner of the bank, James Denman for giving her that opportunity.
One day at work Barbara spotted a young man across the street coming out of the dry cleaning store with a suit. As fate would have it would that man would turn out to be her future husband.
Later at a chance meeting at the local bowling alley, Barbara finally met the young man she had seen on the the street. His name was Robert Cubbage, a farmer from east of Nevada. They dated for two years and with a borrowed wedding dress and money saved from her job at the bank, Barbara and Robert were married at the First Christian Church in Nevada, Missouri on February, 9, 1964.
The “city girl” had now moved to the farm. On that farm near Walker, Missouri the newly married couple moved into a “fixer-upper” craftsman style farmhouse nestled in the middle of 300 plus acres. From the time she first set foot in that house she was determined to make it her pride and joy. Through multiple makeovers, additions and her eye for decorating, this was the home that Barbara helped build for her family. Even Joanna Gaines would have been proud! Many meals, memories and moments were made in that home over the years.
Barbara was a doer. She never let grass grow under her feet or dust settle. She was always active whether it be at home, at work or in the community. During the early years of marriage Barbara was at home either working in or on the house. The couple welcomed a son, Steven in the summer of 1965 and a daughter Christy in late summer of 1969.
After the kids were older, Barbara returned to work outside the home as she started a part-time position as postal clerk at a small rural Post Office in Walker, Missouri. She eventually worked her way up the ranks and she became the full-time Postmaster of that same post office — a position she held until her retirement in 2004. She knew every face and the post office box number that face belonged to — she loved the community and her job. So much so that her license plate read - USPS-PM — short for United States Postal Service - Postmaster.
In retirement she went back to doing the things she loved the most — decorating, baking, gardening, traveling and taking care of her cats. To her husband’s chagrin she never could pass by a good antique store, but her favorite was the Iron Star in Fort Scott. She was an amazing baker — whether it was making superhero cakes for her grandchildren or homemade pies for Thanksgiving. But nothing was more delicious than her famous hot homemade rolls. She had a green thumb as her lawn, trees and flowers surrounding her home looked more like an arboretum than someone’s actual yard. She got to see a lot a places during her time, whether it was roadtrips across the U.S., or cruises to the Caribbean and Alaska, or various transatlantic flights that took her to Ireland, France and Italy. And finally, any wayward feline soon knew they had reached the promised land when they showed up on Barbara Cubbage’s doorstep. She loved her cats.
Anything sweet may have been the only thing she loved more than cats. She loved chocolate. She loved her ice cream. The two together only made it all the better. And she loved her “girl trips” as they would travel and shop together and leave the men behind so they “could have some fun.”
She will be greatly missed by all. Thanksgiving will never be the same without her signature rolls, pies, and one cannot forget the made from scratch egg noodles.
Barbara is survived by her loving husband Robert, her son Steve Cubbage and his wife Kimberly Russell, and daughter Christy Cubbage and her husband Butch Rigby, granddaughter Alexandra Cubbage, step granddaughter Lauren Jones and her husband Dan Jones, step grandson Broc Hammett, and two great grandsons Rainer and Sebastian Jones. Surviving siblings include sisters Marilyn Brittingham and Kaye Brittingham, brothers Galen Brittingham and his wife Kathy, and Thurman Brittingham and his wife Lynda. She was preceded in death by her brother Marty Brittingham.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Vernon County 4-H, or the Kansas City Hospice House in c/o of Ferry Funeral Home.
A Celebration of Life will be held from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, 2024 at First Baptist Church in Nevada, MO.
