Fairfield barber shop owner recognized by her big hair remembered as ‘people person’

Darlene Bowling of Dixie Chicks Barber Shop dies at 74.

Credit: Picasa

Credit: Picasa

Darlene Bowling was known for a few things, including her outgoing personality and iconic white hair.

She was also known as the long-time co-owner of the Dixie Chicks Barber Shop in Fairfield, a business she and co-owner Trish Marcum sold to a former employee a few years ago.

Bowling, of Hamilton, died on Saturday, at her home. She was 74.

“Everyone knows Darlene and her hair,” said friend and former employee Terra Combs of Bowling’s Dolly Parton-esque big hair. “Nobody really knows here without knowing her hair.”

Combs, who bought the barber shop in 2019, said Bowling was known for her kindness just as much as her hair, which began going white in her 20s.

“Darlene was very kind,” said Combs, who went to barber school with Bowling and began working at Dixie Chicks Barber Shop in 2013.

The phrase that someone had “never met a stranger” may be a cliché, but it’s nonetheless very true about Bowling.

“Darlene was a people person, she loved her clients. She loved talking to people, hearing their stories, and sharing her stories with them,” Combs said. “She just loved everybody. She was a very caring person.”

Bowling was born on Sept. 9, 1948, in Cincinnati, the daughter of the late Kenneth L. Fuller and Clara Ruth (nee Hedger) Fuller. She attended the Winton Road First Church of God.

It wasn’t until Bowling was 50 that she became a barber. And though she loved talking with and meeting people, Combs said above all else, her friend’s priorities were her religion and “her family was her life.”

Bowling is survived by three sons, Lester Bowling, Brian (fiancée Bee) Bowling, and Steve (fiancée Carolyn) Bowling; five grandchildren, Anna, Autumn, Brandon, Brady, and Steve, Jr.; her brother, Kenneth (Jill) Fuller and sister Jackie (Tim) Horn.

Darlene was also preceded in death by her sister Daisy Thompson and niece Wendy Van Bever.


REMEMBERING DARLENE BOWLING

The visitation for Darlene Bowling is from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Webster Funeral Home, 3080 Homeward Way, off Ohio 4 in Fairfield.

The funeral service is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

About the Author