Barbara B. Allen

Barbara Bower Allen, a lifelong artist, gardener, educator, adventurer, devoted friend, a true original, and the heart of a family that adored her, died August 1, 2026, in Akron, Ohio. She was 87.

Barbara acquired the name most people would know her by early on at a sixth-grade slumber party where friends dubbed her "Miki." It stuck, following her through school, marriage, motherhood, friendships, travels and most of a long and colorful life.

And Miki had a gift for finding and creating beauty.

It was there in the gardens she tended tirelessly, the oil paintings and pastels she created, the photographs she took throughout her life and the wonderfully eclectic homes she filled with art, collections, treasures and things that simply delighted her.

It was also there in the way she lived.

Born on June 16, 1939, in Midland, Michigan, Miki was adopted as an infant by Ralph and Elsa Wiegand Bower. She grew up in Michigan, taking extended trips to Florida and Deer Isle, Maine, with her brother, Richard "Dick" Bower. Miki was also nurtured by her beloved uncle and aunt, Martin and Thelma Wiegand Klaver, who inspired her lifelong passion for art and creativity. Many cherished winters were spent at "The Birches" on Wixom Lake, Michigan, where she loved ice skating alongside her father, brother, and cousins, Martin and Bonnie.

Michigan would always remain an important part of her story. Decades later, on a belated 80th birthday celebration gifted by her daughter Kendall, Miki returned, and the two took a road trip through her home state, ending at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. It was one of many adventures she would share with her children over the years.

But perhaps the most consequential adventure began much earlier, in a record store in Columbia, Missouri.

While earning her Associate in Arts degree at Stephens College and pursuing a Bachelor's in Education at the University of Missouri, Miki met William Dale Allen, a young journalism student. That chance encounter sparked a love story and partnership that spanned over six decades.

Dale's career as a journalist first took the couple to Arkansas, then to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they welcomed their first daughter, Kendall, through adoption. They later moved to Philadelphia as Dale advanced his career with The Philadelphia Inquirer and Knight Ridder. It was there that their family grew again with the adoption of their son, Matt, followed serendipitously a year and a half later by the birth of their daughter, Anna. Eventually, Dale's work led the family to Akron, Ohio, the place they would proudly call home.

While Dale built his career in journalism, Miki built a life around creativity, nurturing her family and good times. As an educator, she taught fifth grade and art. As a mother, she passed along a love of meaningful travel and art in all its forms: music, dance, nature and the visual arts. As a grandmother, she nurtured imagination, joy in life and an irrepressible optimism.

Miki painted in oils and pastels and was a passionate photographer long before everyone carried a camera in their pocket. In the early years, she built and worked in her own darkroom. Later, she enthusiastically embraced digital photography. Through every era and medium, she was always looking, noticing and capturing. She photographed the world around her; every minute of every day was a moment worth recording. From the serene landscapes of Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Ohio's Western Reserve to vistas across the United States and Europe, to sunset pontoon cruises on Muzzy Lake with Pugsley and Cecil and then Barney on her lap, she preserved the magic of nature through her lens.

The same instinct drew her to gardening. Miki was a lifelong and indefatigable gardener, familiar to the people at local garden centers and flower shops and surrounded by friends and family who shared her enthusiasm. She belonged to the Merriman Hills Garden Club and served as co-chairwoman of the Stan Hywet Garden Committee. She was an active participant in Ohio Mart and other events surrounding Stan Hywet's famous gardens, a perfect fit for someone who cherished art, history, beautiful spaces and living things. She turned the homes she and Dale shared in West Akron, first on Merriman Road and later on Newport, and her cottage at Muzzy Lake into places that reflected her abundant, sometimes exuberant creativity.

For many years, Miki and Dale enjoyed their home on Muzzy Lake in Ravenna, Ohio. Surrounded by a close community, they spent years fishing alongside family and friends, affectionately known to Miki as "The Fisher People." Together, she and Dale passed down their love of fishing to their grandsons, Everett and Jackson, teaching them to cherish vibrant sunsets and the quiet joy of watching birds from the feeders in the stillness of early morning.

The outdoors had been part of family life long before Muzzy Lake. Miki and Dale raised their children camping, loading up the family for trips to Maine, beachside campgrounds and other destinations across the country. Those adventures became part of the rhythm of family life and some of its most enduring memories.

They also simply loved to get in the car and go.

Road trips and long drives were a constant throughout Miki and Dale's life together. Sometimes the destination was ambitious, including a golden anniversary road trip around the country that took them through genealogical landmarks and numerous national and state parks. Other times, the pleasure was much closer to home. They loved driving through Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a landscape that became part of the backdrop of their Akron years. For Miki and Dale, the drive itself was often as much the point as wherever they were headed, and often those drives were shared with one of their beloved dogs, most recently Barney. Sprinkled throughout the years were several significant road trips with their children, including a couple of cross-country runs with each of her children.

That sense of adventure stayed with Miki as she grew older. She learned to ski later in life and took to it with enthusiasm, enjoying memorable ski trips with a group of women friends. Many of those same women friends were also part of the Women's Board of Ohio Ballet. There always seemed to be room in her life for another interest, another trip, another friend and another experience.

And Miki had friends everywhere.

Over a lifetime together, Miki and Dale seemed to gather people wherever they went. There were friends from the early years of their marriage, friends made through Dale's journalism career, friends from the communities where they lived, and friends connected by art, gardening, children and the many other interests that filled their lives. Many of those friendships lasted for decades.

Especially treasured were the years of friendship with the Ellis and Covington families. The Allens, Ellises and Covingtons shared many beach trips, the kind of vacations that became part of the fabric of family life and were remembered and talked about long after everyone had packed up and gone home. Travels to the Carolina coast, including Pawley's Island, Isle of Palms and Wrightsville Beach, were among their favorites.

Miki maintained friendships from all the different chapters of her life and was fiercely loyal to the people she loved. Her circle was large and enduring, including her beloved "Lunch Bunch," with breakfasts at Panera and Wally Waffle, and Monday dinners at The Noisy Oyster. Her dearest friends and neighbors sat with her on her deck, patio or at a nearby easel, working on their own works of art. People were drawn to Miki's warmth, generosity and joyful spirit. She was big-hearted, lighthearted and deeply interested in the people around her.

She was also funny, often when you weren't entirely sure she meant to be.

Miki had a way of dropping a perfectly timed observation or unexpected turn of phrase that could send everyone around her into giggles. The family came to call these little gems "Mikiisms." Sometimes they seemed completely accidental. But just when you were convinced Miki had no idea why everyone was laughing, you might catch the wry little smile that gave her away. She was more of a ham than she generally admitted.

She also knew how to love things wholeheartedly.

She loved art and museums in cities all around the country and destinations abroad. She loved outdoor concerts at Blossom Music Center with Dale and was thrilled when Anna, Justin, Jackson and Everett shared those moments, or when Kendall and Blake would come to town and join them under the stars. She loved the Cleveland Cavaliers, following the team faithfully and with the kind of enthusiasm she tended to bring to the things she cared about. Her letters of admiration to the pre-LeBron James-era Cavs lineup were notable, as was the 2016 NBA Finals game she witnessed as a surprise gift from Matt to her and Dale.

Sports brought its own adventures. Over the years, Anna and her family, Matt, Dale and Miki all volunteered with the organization founded by Blake, Special Spectators, but Miki may have had the ultimate experience: following Cal's historic double-overtime victory over Colorado, a player ushered her down the stairs and into the Golden Bears' locker room, where she found herself standing just feet away from the team's postgame huddle. It was exactly the kind of unexpected place Miki somehow had a way of landing.

She loved animals. She loved teddy bears. She loved unsweetened iced tea with light ice. She loved LeBron James. She loved Honey Bunny and Larry. She loved pickle relish. She loved hydrangeas, chocolate mousse cake and Turtle Cookies.

And she really loved Christmas.

At Christmas, Miki's home became its own kind of spectacle, filled with decorations and an enormous collection of Santas accumulated over the years: Santa figurines, Santa dolls, stuffed Santas and Santas in seemingly every imaginable form. Her home was never minimalist. It was layered, colorful, personal and alive, filled with art, photographs, collections, relics, curiosities and treasures that carried stories. But most of all, it was filled with love.

Animals were another constant. Early in their marriage, Miki and Dale raised a litter of Brittany Spaniels, beginning a long succession of beloved family dogs. Their last dog was Barney, Miki and Dale's much-loved companion, who remained with Miki until she moved to Brookdale Montrose. Barney has been cared for and loved by Jackson and Everett and will continue to be cuddled with them in Columbus.

Her affection extended well beyond the dogs who lived under her own roof. She was especially close to Kendall and Blake's beloved Bruce T. Beauchamp, who died in July 2026 at the remarkable age of 17. Bruce had been part of the family for nearly two decades, and he and Miki shared a special bond.

Travel was another constant, and often it was intertwined with family.

Travels to visit relatives and friends in Colorado, Arizona, Smith Mountain Lake, Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, Maine, California and North Carolina were life highlights.

Some of the most meaningful travels for Miki and Dale were simply about going wherever their children happened to be. When Kendall and Matt made lives in San Francisco, Miki and Dale went west to see them. When Kendall later lived in New York, they visited there, too. They frequented Columbus to visit Jackson and Everett and to watch hundreds of sporting events. Following their children as they built lives of their own became another chapter in Miki and Dale's long life together.

Miki and Matt shared a memorable cruise through Alaska. She and Anna were frequent traveling companions, taking trips together over the years, including adventures throughout Europe and the Carolinas. With Kendall, she drove cross-country when Kendall moved from San Francisco to New York; she visited Paris and later took that especially memorable road trip through her native Michigan as a belated 80th birthday celebration, culminating at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. This would ultimately be the last trip she and Kendall would take as mother and daughter, and they agreed wholeheartedly it was the trip of their lifetime together.

Each of Miki's children shared something different with her.

With Kendall came a particular shared appetite for travel and discovery, from Paris to their sentimental return to Michigan, the kind of trips where things either went really right or really wrong, always leaving them with stories to share or keep secret. After Kendall and Blake returned to the Midwest and made their home in Detroit seven years ago, Miki delighted in having them closer. She came to love visiting Detroit and became an increasingly familiar part of the holiday traditions Kendall and Blake created there, along with Matt and the whole Wolf family.

With Anna came not only a lifetime of adventures together but a shared love of music, imagination, travel and teaching. Anna followed her mother's path in almost identical fashion. Anna enjoyed years volunteering with her mom at Stan Hywet, in the gardens, leading to a lifetime of nurturing her own garden. Miki was Anna's best friend and sidekick. She was present for both grandsons' births and shared in every celebration that followed. Through Anna, Miki's legacy of loving and serving others continues in work with children and the elderly.

And with Matt came a bond that grew especially close in the later years of Miki's life. When Dale became ill, Matt returned home to Akron and became an important presence in his parents' lives. After Dale's death, that closeness with his mother only deepened.

Miki took enormous pleasure in being a grandmother.

She remained a large influence in Jackson and Everett's lives, creating moments that both boys cherished. She loved teaching them about birds, the outdoors and how to have a sense of humor. Jackson and Meema Miki shared a passion for basketball. Everett and Meema Miki shared a love of all things dog. She loved going to annual Cleveland Cavaliers and Guardians games with them. They never had a dull moment with their grandma and are rich with love, smiles and hugs from her.

Lauren Rockwell, Miki's only granddaughter, had her own special ritual with her grandmother. Wherever the family happened to be, New York, Detroit, Akron or somewhere else entirely, Miki and Lauren had a habit of disappearing together in search of the best ice cream in town. It didn't much matter where they found it. The adventure, and the one-on-one time, was the point.

Miki was preceded in death by Dale, who died in September 2019, and by many beloved animals over a lifetime, including, most recently, Bruce.

After more than 60 years together, Miki and Dale's lives were so intertwined that it is difficult to tell the story of one without the other. From that chance meeting in a Missouri record store came newspapers and children, houses and gardens, dogs and lake summers, camping trips and concerts, travels and friendships, long drives through Cuyahoga Valley National Park and much farther afield, and a lifetime accumulated together.

She is survived by her brother, Richard "Dick" Bower; her children, Kendall Allen Rockwell and her husband, Blake Rockwell; Matthew Paul Allen; and Anna Allen Wolf and her husband, Justin Wolf. She is also survived by her three grandchildren: Kendall's stepdaughter, Lauren Rockwell, Miki's only granddaughter; and Jackson William Wolf and Everett Allen Wolf, Anna and Justin's sons.

And because Miki surely would have counted them, her extended family of animals survives her, too, including Rosalita, Cookie, Scarlet, Twirl and, first and foremost, Barney.

For the final nearly two years of her life, Miki made her home at Brookdale Montrose.

She brought far more than furniture with her. In her apartment, she recreated a small, cozy replica of the Newport home she had loved, surrounding herself with her paintings, photographs, favorite objects and treasured collections. It was unmistakably hers.

And somewhere along the way, something else from her past returned: Miki became Barbie again. Her mother, Elsa, had nicknamed her Barbie as a child, making its return in this final chapter of her life especially fitting.

At Brookdale, "Barbie" became a term of affection, a name used warmly by the people who cared for her and came to love her. It suited this new chapter surprisingly well. After a lifetime as Miki, she had become Barbie again.

And Barbie thrived there.

Even as she lived with dementia and, later, multiple myeloma, those 21 months held friendship, activity, family, animals, lunches, laughter and the familiar beauty she had always created around herself. Brookdale became not simply the place where she lived, but another community and another circle of people drawn to her.

Her family remained woven through this new life, too. There were visits and outings, time with her children and grandchildren, old friends who continued to gather with her and familiar faces at Brookdale who became new friends.

And every evening, Matt came for dinner.

For nearly two years, he visited her each night. They sat together, ate together and kept each other company. Night after night, it became their time, a simple ritual and a treasured final chapter in the bond between mother and son.

When the end came, Barbie was in that cozy room, in her own bed and surrounded by her art, photographs and the things she loved. Her children, Kendall, Matt and Anna, were there with her, along with her granddaughter Lauren and Kendall's husband, Blake.

It was, in many ways, a setting she had created herself.

Miki's life is difficult to capture in a list of dates and places. It is easier to find her in the things she left behind: a painting on a wall. A photograph carefully composed. A garden overflowing its boundaries. A Christmas Santa tucked onto a shelf. A dog that was completely adored. A Mikiism that still makes someone laugh. A friend who went to Friday happy hours. A grandson who carries her playful sense of humor, love of dogs and originality. A long conversation with a traveling daughter late at night during a business trip. A granddaughter heading out with her in search of ice cream. A daughter who emulates her mother's journey as an artist, educator and naturalist. A son arriving for dinner, night after night. A familiar road winding through the Cuyahoga Valley. Children and grandchildren who traveled with her and carry her stories forward.

And perhaps somewhere, a record playing, recalling the chance meeting in Columbia, Missouri, that started more than six decades of life with Dale.

In the end, Barbie was surrounded by what had always mattered most to Miki: beauty, art, memories and people she loved for exactly who they were.

Details regarding a celebration of her life taking place in late September will be shared with family and friends.

The family welcomes memorial contributions in Miki's honor to the Alzheimer's Association , the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation or the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, three organizations that reflect both the challenges she faced at the end of her life and a place that brought Miki and Dale so much joy.

Services in care of the Billow Funeral Homes and Crematory, Fairlawn Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd. Fairlawn, OH 44333.