Barbara Jan Vaughn Cutler passed away peacefully on December 16, 2024 at her home in Yuma, Arizona. Barbara Yang was born on February 13, 1940 to David Wesley and Johnny May Vaughn of Clovis, New Mexico, and lived on her own terms for 84 years.
The Vaughans moved to Summerton after his father returned from the war in 1946, and Barbarajan lived in Yuma County all his life. She attended Mary Post and Force Avenue Grammar School, and graduated from Yuma High in 1958. Barbara Yang married Jack E. Cutler in 1961. They had two daughters together, Jodie Lin and Jamie Dee.
A talented storyteller, Yang was proud of his daughters, Nie and Ne, in the tales of the youthful Yuma adventures, especially swimming horses in Colorado, wearing her levis “until you were able to stand in the corner,” and wearing her best friend Jeffy Gilpin everywhere. She had a wide range of work history, including scooping ice cream with Thrifty Drug. However, she is best known as a talented hairdresser. For over 30 years, she was a client of chasing her everywhere, and eventually included her own downtown salon, stickers. She also put on hair and makeup for the Yuma County Pageant over the years. Her station’s whimsical decorations, and her annual workday Halloween costumes (such as the cave women, the Red Devils, and the members of the Kiss) are legendary.
Yang loved dancing and she was good at it. Before marrying Jack, she briefly taught ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray Studio, and over the years she and Jack won numerous Saturday night dance contests in Yuma. Yang was an artist. The painter and ceramicist filled the house with furniture that repaired herself and quirky items she had collected on her trips. The walls were hung with her original works and other works. Her ceramic sculptures were exhibited in various galleries in the area
Yang was an adventurer. She kayaked San Juan, went on a field trip in geology, and was a BLM site steward for the archaeological site in the Yuma area. She was always on road trips, whether on a motorcycle to San Francisco or a Buick sedan on Highway 1.
In 2000, Barbara Jan married R.L. Sullivan and won a second family. Yang and RL got together, spent their vacation with friends and went to see the Diamondbacks.
Barbara Jan Cutler loved Yuma. Its history and the people who live here. She cherished her friends more than anything else. She was preceded in death by her husband, RL Sullivan and daughter, Jami Dee Cutler. She was survived by her daughter Jody Lynn Cutler, three grandchildren, two great grandchildren, Nie and Ne, and her good dog, Louis. My beloved mom, aunt, Nana, she will never be forgotten.
Join us at 2:30pm on February 16th to celebrate Lutes Casino’s host-no-host celebration in downtown Yuma. Instead of flowers, donations to Yuma’s Humane Society are proposed.
