Barbara Bartlett

Barbara Erskine Bartlett, 61, of Mexia, passed away November 26, 2013. Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m., Saturday, November 30, 2013 at Blair-Stubbs Funeral Home with Rev. Marcus Sheffield and Chaplain Karen Hulsey officiating. Interment will follow in the Thornton Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be 5:00-7:00 p.m., Friday at the funeral home. Barbara was born September 9, 1952 in Marlin, Texas to Jasper Whit and Nelle Florine Rasco Erskine. She attended school in Thornton, Groesbeck and graduated from Richfield High in Waco in 1971. She continued her education at Tarleton State University and received her Master’s Degree in 1982. Barbara retired from the Mexia State School after 31 years of service. She also enjoyed a teaching career of over 20 years at Navarro College. She referred to her students as her “little darlin’s”. Barbara constantly encouraged everyone to continue their education. Family was always first with her. She began teaching her children, at an early age, to live by the “Golden Rule”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. She emphasized another rule for them to live by, “not to lean on, but to make leaning unnecessary”; she was all about teaching independence. Barbara also enjoyed cooking and, at one time, wrote a recipe column for the Mexia Daily News. She was a member of Volunteer Council for the MSSLC and Human Rights Committee for several years. She was a member of the First Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents. Barbara is survived by her husband, Joseph Webster Bartlett, IV; children, Amanda Bell and husband, Michael and Whit Ogilvie and wife, Carrie Jo; and step-daughter, Michelle Fischer and husband, Harry; and five step-grandchildren. Pallbearers will be Harold Mulholland, Charles Bratcher, Donald Erwin, Shannon Tigue, Bill Ward and John Ward. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Providence Hospice, 107 E. Commerce, Mexia, TX 76667 or Navarro College South Scholarship Foundation, 901 N. MLK Highway, Mexia, Texas.