Barbara J Holt

Barbara June (Townsend) Holt passed on Thursday, October 12, 2017, leaving a legacy of love and strength to her family and those whose lives she touched.

Services were held Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. at the Vera Methodist Church with Rev. Terry Pugh officiating. Burial was in the Vera Cemetery under the direction of Archer Funeral Home.

Born June 7, 1939 in Stamford, Texas as the daughter of W.J. and Nora Mae Townsend, she was the second of two children and sister to Betty Jo Kinnibrugh. Her family moved to the community of Vera, Texas in 1941, and Barbara and her sister loved growing up on the family farm. Barbara attend Vera Consolidated School until her graduation in Vera, Texas, until her graduation in 1957. (And yes, she loved the Statler Brothers.)

She attended North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Education and graduating in 1961. She accepted an elementary teaching position in Odessa, Texas, where she taught for 32 years, with a short break to enjoy the early years raising her three young children, Carla, Stephen and Aimee.

Every summer found Barbara serving and participating at church camps. It was at one such camp in Lufkin, Texas, in 1994 that she met Paul, who hailed Whoden, Texas. After a whirlwind romance full of love letters and visits, they married August 19, 1994. The couple resided in Odessa until Barbara's retirement in 1998, with Paul building his construction contractors business there.

In 1998, Barbara and Paul moved to Graham, Texas, where Paul remodeled a home on some land, built a shop out back, and began re-building his business once again.

She is survived by her husband, Paul Holt; a sister, Betty Jon Kinnibrugh; 3 children, Carla Hays and husband, Stuart, Stephen Coulston and wife, Meg and Aimee Smith and husband, Tommy Smith; 2 step-children, Sheila Ballard and husband, Sam and Bill Holt and wife, Sandy; 9 grandchildren; 9 step-grandchildren.