Barbara Holmes Obituary

A life well-lived and well-loved, Barbara Gwynn Holmes, of Reeds Spring, Missouri, passed away peacefully on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at the age of 92.
Barbara was born on October 27, 1932, in Friendship, Tennessee, to Thomas and Zuma Hughes. Being the youngest of 7 children, she was doted upon by her mother and the very center of her Universe. She became accustomed to garnering all the attention in the family, so much so, that on a train ride to California to visit an aunt, she thought all the people waiting on the station platform were there to specifically welcome her. Her much older sisters made sure to bring her back down to Earth anytime they came home to visit with their babies, as Barbara was put in charge of diaper changing and cleaning up messes. Not exactly the life of a glamorous movie star.
Barbara's family moved to Paducah, Kentucky, where she spent her most of her childhood and teenage years. Athletic and adventurous, she loved riding bikes, playing Cops and Robbers, and climbing trees with the boys in the neighborhood - often getting the best of them.
After graduating high school, Barbara attended Draughon's Business College in Paducah, where she met her future husband, Bill. They married on November 3, 1951. Barbara worked full-time for the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, in the Animal Genetics Department while Bill pursued his business degree. In 1959, Bill's career took them to Florissant, Missouri, where they started their family, having 2 sons, Mark and Mike. Barbara devoted herself to her boys, instilling in them her sense of inquisitiveness, her love of the outdoors, and her appreciation for some good, down home, Kentucky BBQ.
In 1972, the family relocated to Westminster, California. It was there that Barbara was offered an in-home bible study and first learned about the hope of everlasting life on a paradise Earth. She dedicated her life to serving Jehovah God and sharing this good news with others. It was her steadfast, unwavering faith and hope that got her through the darkest of days, when her eldest son, Mark, passed away at the age of 29.
After Bill retired in 1989, he and Barbara moved back to Missouri, eventually settling in Reeds Spring, on the shores of Table Rock Lake. Barbara loved her life in the Ozarks and stayed active gardening, fishing, entertaining, and traveling to places both near and far. She remained adventurous and fearless well into her later years, ziplining for the first time at the age of 80.
Barbara spent the last 6 years of her life back in Southern California, near her son and his family. She is preceded in death by her son Mark and husband Bill. Barbara is survived by son Michael Holmes (Maylene), grandchildren Christopher Holmes, Caitlin Holmes, Lauren (Peter) Gobell, and Devon Holmes, and great grandchildren Elexus Holmes, Weston and Miles Gobell.
At the end of each visit to see Barbara, her family would always leave by saying, " I love you", to which Barbara, even as her light began to dim and her memory faltered, would respond with the same three words, "Love you more".....Impossible.