Barbara Ford

(From Parker Mortuary)

Barbara Lorraine Ford, of Joplin died at home on Sunday evening, May 25, 2025, just a few weeks after her 99th birthday. A visitation will be held on Thursday, May 29, 2025 from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Parker Mortuary. Graveside Services will be held at Osborne Memorial Cemetery in Joplin, Friday, May 30, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. with pastor Jim Bowles officiating.

Barbara was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1942, at the young age of sixteen, she married Jessy Ford. They moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Joplin, Missouri and purchased their first and only home in 1947. She was a former member of Friendship Baptist Church. She enjoyed gardening and passersby often slowed to enjoy the wide array of floral beauty. She liked sharing her plants with neighbors and friends. She was a seamstress who made most of her young daughters’ dresses and doll clothes and a caregiver to several family members thru the years.

At the age of 49 she earned her GED and subsequently worked for the City of Joplin in the Municipal Court Dept. for thirteen years. The Joplin Tornado of 2011 caused extensive damage to their home, as well as demolishing trees and flowers which she had nurtured so diligently. She spent the following year feverishly trying to replenish those losses. By God’s grace the home was repairable, and the plants were renewed; even the new trees she planted have matured in her lifetime.

She is survived by three daughters, Regina Albritton, Diana Johnson (Thomas), and Frieda Adams; grandchildren, Pamela Albritton, Scott E. Albritton, Bradley Johnson (Cherith), Katie Brechlin (Jake), Gina Harper (Ian), and Kristin Youngbull (J. Tyler); sixteen great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her devoted husband of 76 years, Jessy Evert Ford; father, Orville O. Hunt; mother, Edith M. Campbell; sister, Darlene Lonon; brother, DeWayne Hunt; and her aunt, Ina Friedhofen (Uncle Bill). The Lord provided a way for Barbara to reside at home even after she experienced physical setbacks. She lived and loved for 99 years, and now has joined her loved ones in eternity, for which both she and her family are thanking and praising our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Funeral arrangements are under the special care and direction of Parker Mortuary.