Suzanne (Rose) Barbour

Suzanne Rose Barbour, 53, of Broad Creek, died at her home Monday, December 28, 2015.

The family and church will conduct a memorial service will be held at 2 pm on Friday, January 1, 2016, at the Broad Creek Church of God, on Broad Creek Loop Road, Newport.

Suzanne was born in New Bern, the daughter of Jean and Kenneth Rose Sr.

She loved the ocean and the earth. Her favorite days were spent on Bogue Sound clamming or digging in her backyard garden. Her pickles and tomato sauce - created with ingredients fresh from her garden - were legendary.

Loving to create things with her hands and her heart, she spent the last few weeks in her dedicated craft room, making elaborate Christmas wreaths for her family and friends.

Suzanne held many jobs over the years, including hair dresser and dental technician, but considered herself to have one true calling: mother.

She is survived by her children - Joseph Killian, of Greensboro, and Meagan Arenas, of Sophia. She considered them her greatest legacy.

She is also survived by her sister Maria Rose, and sister-in-law Amanda Estes, of Greensboro.
Maria was more than a little sister to Suzanne. She was a trusted friend and confidant, a confessor and protector, a source of great pride.
Suzanne also leaves a daughter-in-law, Amanda Killian, of Greensboro; many aunts, uncles and cousins, including Bryan Harris and his husband Dusty Cantley, of Kingstree, South Carolina, whom she loved as brothers.

Her many loving friends and neighbors - especially the Smith family of Broad Creek - were an extended family from her earliest days to her last, there for her always as she was for them.

She also nurtured - and was nurtured by - many beloved pets throughout her life.

For the last few years a pudgy chihuahua named Chi Chi was her constant companion - and never complained about the wild outfits in which her mother dressed her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Kenneth Rose Jr. and her beloved husband Rodney Barbour.
Rodney and Suzanne loved one another in sickness and in health, as they pledged. The Barbour family, and especially Rodney’s brothers and their families, provided love and support which made her final years some of her happiest.

In lieu of flowers, her family suggests donations to the North Carolina Coastal Federation (www.nccoast.org), which works to preserve the water and the coast she loved.