Services will be held at Heritage Funeral Home in Valdese, NC on Sunday, August 20, 2023 with the receiving of friends at 5:00 p.m. and a celebration of her life at 6:00 p.m. A private burial will be Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC, to be placed beside her beloved husband Dean.
On August 16, 2023, Mrs. Barbara Jean Rice, 86, of Valdese, NC, passed away peacefully with beloved family at her side. Early that morning, the clouds lifted, she was healed, and the Lord took her home.
The daughter of James Felton Watson and Ethel Reynolds Watson, Barbara was born in Macon, GA, on April 3, 1937. She spent her childhood growing up on 5th street in the heart of Columbus, GA, watching her father construct and build in the community while her mother styled hair with her Aunt Allie Mae in their home salon. The eldest of two children by ten years, Barbara soon gained the nickname "Bobbie" by her younger sister Tenia. She was a doting, protective sister and was known for lining up the neighborhood children to walk them to church.
Barbara loved singing, tracing family history, birdwatching, and a great game of softball or basketball. She graduated from Jordan Vocational High School in 1955 and worked several years in medical records at Martin Army Hospital. She married Harley Dean Rice of Asheville, NC and found great joy in being a devoted wife and mother to one child, a son, Kenneth Dean Rice.
Her memory lives on with her nephews and nieces; Elliot (Amber) Rushing of Garner, NC, James (Suzanne) Rushing of Raleigh, NC, and Sharon (Dane) Moore of Drexel, NC. Great nephews and nieces: Alec Rushing, Clark Rushing, William Rushing, Evan Rushing, Bennett Rushing, Ava Rushing, Delanie Moore, Thomas Moore, and Jocelyn Moore.
Barbara was predeceased by her father James Felton Watson, mother Ethel Reynolds Watson, her inlaws Furman and Bertie Lee Rice, her husband Harley Dean Rice, sister-in-law Clara Ruppert, her sister Tenia Watson Rushing Blackmon, and most recently her son Kenneth Dean Rice.
As a woman of faith, Barbara wished to have a celebration of the immortality promised to all by Christ. She would love to be remembered and celebrated for what was good and blessed in her life.
Source Citation: Heritage Funeral Service
On August 16, 2023, Mrs. Barbara Jean Rice, 86, of Valdese, NC, passed away peacefully with beloved family at her side. Early that morning, the clouds lifted, she was healed, and the Lord took her home.
The daughter of James Felton Watson and Ethel Reynolds Watson, Barbara was born in Macon, GA, on April 3, 1937. She spent her childhood growing up on 5th street in the heart of Columbus, GA, watching her father construct and build in the community while her mother styled hair with her Aunt Allie Mae in their home salon. The eldest of two children by ten years, Barbara soon gained the nickname "Bobbie" by her younger sister Tenia. She was a doting, protective sister and was known for lining up the neighborhood children to walk them to church.
Barbara loved singing, tracing family history, birdwatching, and a great game of softball or basketball. She graduated from Jordan Vocational High School in 1955 and worked several years in medical records at Martin Army Hospital. She married Harley Dean Rice of Asheville, NC and found great joy in being a devoted wife and mother to one child, a son, Kenneth Dean Rice.
Her memory lives on with her nephews and nieces; Elliot (Amber) Rushing of Garner, NC, James (Suzanne) Rushing of Raleigh, NC, and Sharon (Dane) Moore of Drexel, NC. Great nephews and nieces: Alec Rushing, Clark Rushing, William Rushing, Evan Rushing, Bennett Rushing, Ava Rushing, Delanie Moore, Thomas Moore, and Jocelyn Moore.
Barbara was predeceased by her father James Felton Watson, mother Ethel Reynolds Watson, her inlaws Furman and Bertie Lee Rice, her husband Harley Dean Rice, sister-in-law Clara Ruppert, her sister Tenia Watson Rushing Blackmon, and most recently her son Kenneth Dean Rice.
As a woman of faith, Barbara wished to have a celebration of the immortality promised to all by Christ. She would love to be remembered and celebrated for what was good and blessed in her life.
Source Citation: Heritage Funeral Service
Services will be held at Heritage Funeral Home in Valdese, NC on Sunday, August 20, 2023 with the receiving of friends at 5:00 p.m. and a celebration of her life at 6:00 p.m. A private burial will be Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery in Black Mountain, NC, to be placed beside her beloved husband Dean.
On August 16, 2023, Mrs. Barbara Jean Rice, 86, of Valdese, NC, passed away peacefully with beloved family at her side. Early that morning, the clouds lifted, she was healed, and the Lord took her home.
The daughter of James Felton Watson and Ethel Reynolds Watson, Barbara was born in Macon, GA, on April 3, 1937. She spent her childhood growing up on 5th street in the heart of Columbus, GA, watching her father construct and build in the community while her mother styled hair with her Aunt Allie Mae in their home salon. The eldest of two children by ten years, Barbara soon gained the nickname "Bobbie" by her younger sister Tenia. She was a doting, protective sister and was known for lining up the neighborhood children to walk them to church.
Barbara loved singing, tracing family history, birdwatching, and a great game of softball or basketball. She graduated from Jordan Vocational High School in 1955 and worked several years in medical records at Martin Army Hospital. She married Harley Dean Rice of Asheville, NC and found great joy in being a devoted wife and mother to one child, a son, Kenneth Dean Rice.
Her memory lives on with her nephews and nieces; Elliot (Amber) Rushing of Garner, NC, James (Suzanne) Rushing of Raleigh, NC, and Sharon (Dane) Moore of Drexel, NC. Great nephews and nieces: Alec Rushing, Clark Rushing, William Rushing, Evan Rushing, Bennett Rushing, Ava Rushing, Delanie Moore, Thomas Moore, and Jocelyn Moore.
Barbara was predeceased by her father James Felton Watson, mother Ethel Reynolds Watson, her inlaws Furman and Bertie Lee Rice, her husband Harley Dean Rice, sister-in-law Clara Ruppert, her sister Tenia Watson Rushing Blackmon, and most recently her son Kenneth Dean Rice.
As a woman of faith, Barbara wished to have a celebration of the immortality promised to all by Christ. She would love to be remembered and celebrated for what was good and blessed in her life.
Source Citation: Heritage Funeral Service
On August 16, 2023, Mrs. Barbara Jean Rice, 86, of Valdese, NC, passed away peacefully with beloved family at her side. Early that morning, the clouds lifted, she was healed, and the Lord took her home.
The daughter of James Felton Watson and Ethel Reynolds Watson, Barbara was born in Macon, GA, on April 3, 1937. She spent her childhood growing up on 5th street in the heart of Columbus, GA, watching her father construct and build in the community while her mother styled hair with her Aunt Allie Mae in their home salon. The eldest of two children by ten years, Barbara soon gained the nickname "Bobbie" by her younger sister Tenia. She was a doting, protective sister and was known for lining up the neighborhood children to walk them to church.
Barbara loved singing, tracing family history, birdwatching, and a great game of softball or basketball. She graduated from Jordan Vocational High School in 1955 and worked several years in medical records at Martin Army Hospital. She married Harley Dean Rice of Asheville, NC and found great joy in being a devoted wife and mother to one child, a son, Kenneth Dean Rice.
Her memory lives on with her nephews and nieces; Elliot (Amber) Rushing of Garner, NC, James (Suzanne) Rushing of Raleigh, NC, and Sharon (Dane) Moore of Drexel, NC. Great nephews and nieces: Alec Rushing, Clark Rushing, William Rushing, Evan Rushing, Bennett Rushing, Ava Rushing, Delanie Moore, Thomas Moore, and Jocelyn Moore.
Barbara was predeceased by her father James Felton Watson, mother Ethel Reynolds Watson, her inlaws Furman and Bertie Lee Rice, her husband Harley Dean Rice, sister-in-law Clara Ruppert, her sister Tenia Watson Rushing Blackmon, and most recently her son Kenneth Dean Rice.
As a woman of faith, Barbara wished to have a celebration of the immortality promised to all by Christ. She would love to be remembered and celebrated for what was good and blessed in her life.
Source Citation: Heritage Funeral Service
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