Barbara J Buchanan

Barbara Jane Buchanan (née Terry), of Valrico, Florida (formerly of Centreville and Constantine, Michigan) peacefully passed away on February 17, 2026, following a long and courageous illness. She was 78.

Barb was born in Dayton, Ohio on January 17, 1948. Whether she was in Constantine or Centreville, Michigan or under the sunshine of Valrico, her home was always defined by the people she loved and the community she served. In 1985, she raised three children on her own, becoming a social worker in 1989. Still, she especially loved opening her home and heart to her children's friends who became her own lifetime kids and welcomed her nieces and nephews into her fold.

Though a graduate of Western Michigan University, she was a lifelong devotee of University of Michigan sports–taking her young children to football games as often as she could. She loved listening to Tigers games on the radio and watching Sunday Lions games after church. Barb also imparted a love of art and culture–encouraging her children and grandchildren to explore music–and all of her children and grandchildren have become musicians in their own right.

As well, Barb often took her children to the Detroit Institute of Arts, an act that ingrained into them a love of art and artifacts that also carries through to her grandchildren. Most of all, Barb was a woman of deep and abiding faith. While spending most of her adult life in St. Joseph County, MI, she was one of the founding members of Temple Baptist Church (Three Rivers, MI) and in her later years, Calvary Chapel of Brandon, where she found great strength and fellowship.

She was known for her patience and precision—traits most evident in her love for jigsaw puzzles. While so much of Barb’s interests skewed toward the theological, she always chuckled at her sons’ ribald senses of humor. She spent countless hours at her table, transforming thousands of scattered pieces into beautiful, completed scenes. It was a fitting hobby for a woman who spent her life carefully tending to the many "pieces" of her own family and friendships. The greatest puzzle, however, was the beautiful soul she curated and crafted of herself.

Barb’s greatest joy was her family. She is survived by her children, Karen Buchanan of San Francisco, CA; Robert Buchanan and his wife Marci of Three Rivers, MI; and James Buchanan and his wife Brandi of Brooksville, FL. Her legacy lives on in her cherished grandchildren: Kennedy, Sophia, Athena, Austin, and Jackson. She is also survived by her brother, Mark Terry, of Stafford Springs, CT, and leaves behind dear friends who became family, including Cyndi Tellin (Sycamore, IL) and Kendra Westra (Dover, FL).

In her final days, she was surrounded by the love and laughter of those who meant the most to her, finding peace in the presence of her children and grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Barbara’s memory to:

• Calvary Cares, a benevolence ministry of Calvary Chapel Brandon, which assists those in need.
• Sturgill Hospice House via the Chapters Health Foundation, which provided her with compassionate care in her final days.

Her Celebration of Life will be at 11:00 a.m., on March 28, 2026 at Calvary Chapel, 1331 Kingsway Rd, Brandon, FL 33510, with a luncheon following.