Barbara Jane Dinkel Pollock, aged 74, peacefully passed away at her home in Westover, Maryland on Friday evening, June 5, 2026. 

Born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 12, 1951, she was the first daughter of Joe and Jane Dinkel. She had been making her home in Westover since 1996. Prior, she lived in Salisbury, Maryland and Penicuik, Scotland. 

Barb graduated from Ohio State University in 1977 with a PhD in Cytogenetics. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in 1973 from Wittenberg College and her Master’s Degree in 1974 from Ohio State University. She married David Laurie Pollock on August 26, 1978 and moved to Penicuik, Scotland. She worked in the Institute of Animal Genetics at the University of Edinburgh studying retinitis pigmentosa in blind chickens and returned to Salisbury, Maryland with her husband David in 1984. Barb was a professor at Salisbury University teaching general and medical microbiology in the Biology Department for 25 years before retiring in 2015. Barb was a passionate teacher who cared about each of her students. 

She enjoyed round the table family games, photography, music (trumpet, handbells and choral singing) and Sunday afternoon visits to the beach. Barb was a committed Christian and served as treasurer to Old Rehoboth Presbyterian Church for 15 years. Barb will be missed. 

She is the loving wife of David Laurie Pollock; beloved mother to Elizabeth Anne Pollock Miller (Tom Miller) and Sarah Margaret Pollock Wray (David D. Wray); grandmother to David James Wray, Virginia Grace Wray, Elaine Esther Wray, and Chloe Jane Miller; sister to Betty Ann Dinkel Dimond (Doug Dimond); aunt to Matt Dimond, Leigh Ann Dimond, Rachel Dimond-Davis, Mary Harris, Ruth Harris Andrews, Rachel Kenyon, Stephen Robert Pollock and Laura Pollock. Her in-laws include Mary and Sam Harris, and the late Stewart and Faye Pollock. 

Graveside services in Ohio and memorial services in Westover are pending at this time.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Old Rehoboth Presbyterian Church, 5757 Coventry Parish Road, Westover, Maryland 21871.