Barbara J. Fackel

Barbara June (Jacobs) Fackel died peacefully in her home August 22, 2019, surrounded by her husband of 60 years, Joseph, and her children, Kelly, Kristi, and Joey. Barbara was born June 19, 1938 in Waterloo, IA. She was the daughter of Maude and Kermit Jacobs and the second of their five children. She was a graduate of Geneseo (IA) High School, She earned an elementary teaching degree from the University of Northern Iowa, and taught in Reinbeck, IA, where she met her future husband.  

Barbara and Joe settled permanently in Rock Island, Illinois, where she was an active member of the community. She volunteered for the Junior Board of Rock Island, served as Mardi Gras chair and was honored as Mardi Gras queen.  

Barbara was a staunch supporter of Rock Island-Milan public schools, and has been engaged in public education from the time her own children attended Earl H. Hanson in the early 1970s. To honor her belief that a quality education would make all the difference in a student’s life, a scholarship has been established in Barbara’s name at the Rock Island-Milan Education Foundation. 

In the 1980s, Barbara completed her master’s degree and started her own performance and training consultancy.  In the early 1990’s, Barbara began working for the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, CA, where she was the director of the Ramp Show. She retired from Concours in 2014. 

Barbara’s life’s passion was tennis. She served in leadership positions in the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the Missouri Valley Tennis Association, and the Iowa Tennis Association. She served for many years as Chair of Player Development and Chair of the Nominating Committee of the USTA. 

In 1997, Barbara received the Eve Kraft Community Service Award for her work supporting community tennis. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in ​2006 ​for contributions to tennis at the national level. She also received the USTA Barbara Williams Leadership prize in 2016. She is a member of the Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame, as well as the Missouri Valley Tennis Hall of Fame. 

Barbara is survived by her husband, Joseph Fackel, her children Kelly Fackel, Kristi Fackel (Tom Halverson), Joseph Fackel III (Jennifer Roels), and her six grandchildren, Claire (Kelly); Ella, Beatrix and August (Kristi); and Nathan and Grant (Joseph III); her siblings Jackie Kocourek (John), Joyce Kolpek, Jonathan Jacobs (Karen), and Julie Amundsen (Craig); and many special nieces and nephews, and many more special friends. Family was the most important thing in the world to her. She will be sorely missed but celebrated and remembered everyday. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made in Barbara’s name to  www.rimef.org​; or to your local community tennis association. Go Hawks!

 A Celebration of Life Gathering for Barbara will be held on Saturday, September 14th from 2 to 5 pm at the Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island. Online condolences may be left for the family at wheelanpressly.com

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