Barbara Jean Rockwood

Barbara Jean Montgomery Rockwood, 72, of Fort Washington, MD, passed away on January 5, 2025. Barbara was born April 1, 1952 to Mattie Michell in Columbus, Georgia. After Barbara graduated from Columbus High School she went on to study Childhood Education at Xavier University in New Orleans, LA where she pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Epsilon Tau chapter. She went on to receive her Master’s of Education from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and did doctoral studies at the University of Phoenix. After graduating from Xavier she started teaching in 1974 in Las Vegas beginning a career in education that lasted for 44 years. In addition to being in the classroom, she coached basketball, track, cross country and volleyball across several school systems from Georgia to the DMV area. Lovingly known as Coach Rock or Mama Rockwood, she was a mentor to many students and student-athletes over the years. As a testament to the impact she had with her kids, as she called her students, she was recently inducted into the Cheyenne High School (Las Vegas, NV) Hall of Fame. Barbara went on to have two children, Ericka Rockwood Sidbury and Ransom Rockwood II. Upon retirement in 2018, she didn’t stay away from education long and continued to substitute teach in Maryland. Additionally, she enjoyed spending time traveling across the country with her grandson, Alexander Sidbury, for his high school and AAU basketball teams. She also loved to knit and quilt in her spare time. She was a woman of great faith and active in the church in every community in which she lived, most recently finding a home with Fort Washington Baptist Church. Barbara was preceded in death by her grandmother, Fannie Heath, her mother, Mattie Mitchell, her sisters, Alicia Ellis, Paulette Frost and Brenda O’Neal. She is survived by her daughter, Ericka Rockwood Sidbury (Fort Washington, MD), son, Ransom Rockwood II (Fort Washington, MD), grandson Alexander Sidbury (Fort Washington, MD), and her brother, Ronald Montgomery (Columbus, GA), along with many loving nieces, nephews and cousins. She also leaves behind many friends, extended family, and students to which she served as a mother figure. Visitation will be held Friday, January 31, 2025 from 10:00am - 11:00am and the Memorial service starts at 11:00 am at Fort Washington Baptist Church, 11516 Fort Washington Road, Fort Washington, MD 20744.

Barbara Jean Rockwood

April 1, 1952 - January 5, 2025