Barbara Ann Knowles, 70, 30-year elementary school teacher

WHEN COMPUTERS arrived at her school, Barbara Ann Knowles, who had been teaching at the Anna Lingelbach Elementary School for 30 years, rose to the occasion.

She took a couple of computer courses offered by the school district and finished out her long and satisfying career as a teacher showing her students how to learn by computer. She retired in 2004.

Barbara Knowles, an active churchwoman and devoted family matriarch who spent most of her own time on her home computer emailing photos of her grandchildren to friends and family, died July 27 of heart failure. She was 70 and lived in Mount Airy.

Barbara had a natural love for children and not only taught them at the same school for more than three decades, but also worked with them through her church, St. Luke's of Germantown.

"She belonged to a woman's ministry that met regularly to discuss church matters and current events, and also reached out to the young people in the church," said her son, Mark.

"She had a passion for teaching and caring for children. She was a very loving person."

Barbara was born in Chester, the youngest child of Raymond Taylor and Mattie Harper. She graduated from Chester High School and went on to West Chester University, where she earned her education degree. Later, she received a master's degree from Beaver College, now Arcadia University.

She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Barbara was an active member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church and sang in the choir of St. Cecilia's Church. Her favorite hymn was "Amazing Grace:"

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind but now I see.

 When her churches needed something done, Barbara was always available.

"She was very loving, but also very stubborn," her son said. "She had her own way of doing things, and you weren't going to change her. She was very strong-minded. You could argue with her till you were blue in the face, but you weren't going to make her change her mind."

Barbara cherished her grandchildren and enjoyed scanning their photos and emailing them far and wide to encourage others to cherish them as well.

Besides her son, she is survived by two brothers, Starling Thompson Jr. and Edward Taylor, and three grandchildren. She was predeceased by another brother, Matthew Thompson.

Services: Memorial service 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church of Germantown, 5421 Germantown Ave.