Barbara Ann McCutcheon Wheaton Glaser

Barbara Ann McCutcheon Wheaton Glaser died in Tampa, Florida, following a brief illness on March 7, 2026, a few weeks shy of her 92nd birthday. Born and raised in Parkersburg, Barbara discovered her love of music while singing in church choir as a teenager, a practice she continued at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church in Valrico, Florida until her 91st birthday. By the age of 19, she saved enough money to purchase her prized piano, which traveled across the country with her. Not surprisingly, during her early professional life, Barbara served as a church organist and choir director for St. John’s United Methodist Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Vienna. A devotee of sacred music, opera, musicals, and Streisand, she was never happier than when singing first soprano in classical choral music or performing in a theater production. She spent many happy years singing in the Parkersburg Choral Society and throughout the community. Once she discovered musical theater, she became active with the Parkersburg Actors’ Guild and later participated in the Fine Arts Council. When not engaged with music, Barbara was an avid reader, a lover of flowers, a serial cat owner, a political junky, and a connoisseur of Chardonnay. Immaculately dressed and coiffed, she prided herself on staying fashionable even in her ninth decade of life.

Shortly after graduating from Parkersburg High School in 1952, Barbara married Noel Wheaton and together they raised two children, Cynthia Wheaton Way (Clyde), and Gregory Wheaton (Lucy) who both eventually settled in Florida. After the couple divorced, Barbara bravely left her hometown in 1981 to move to Los Angeles, California with her second husband, Richard Glaser, who introduced her to a new world where she learned to drive on its infamous expressways, eat sushi, and entertain among the Hollywood Hills. However, after the 3rd earthquake and upon learning she was to be a grandmother, Barbara and Richard relocated to Florida in 1993 to be close to Cynthia’s family and the first grandchild, Anne Mikos. Little did she know that four other grandchildren (Chase Wheaton, Carly Wheaton, Cori Wheaton, and Laura Mikos) would arrive shortly thereafter. In Florida, they found themselves deeply involved in family on the east and west coasts as well as active in multiple community organizations, including the YMCA, Congregation Beth Shalom, and Holy Innocents. They doted on their grandchildren and developed a wide group of friends, living a rich and happy life until Richard’s death in 2007. Barbara’s strong network of family and friends plus participation in the church gave her joy for the remainder of her days. But, the light of her last few years was her great-grandson, Sullivan.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Golden Thorne McCutcheon and Glenna Pauline Atkinson, her sister, Delores Jean Haines, and her husbands, Noel Wheaton and Richard Glaser. She is survived by her brother, James McCutcheon (Rebecca), her children and step-children, her grandchildren, her great-grandson, and numerous extended family members who will remember her fondly. A funeral service will be held at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church located at 604 Valrico Rd. in Valrico, Florida on Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. with a reception in the parish hall to follow. For those wishing to make a contribution in Barbara’s name, please consider your local YMCA, the Humane Society, or kidsPACK, a Lakeland food bank program supported by Holy Innocents supplementing meals for school aged children. At her request, Barbara’s ashes will be scattered in the West Virginia hills she always loved.