Cecilia A. Barton

On Thursday night, October 22, 2015, Cecilia Ann Barton, 79, peacefully took her last breath on Earth and entered heaven’s gates with great joy. Born in Dallas, Texas, on February 5, 1936, Ann was the seventh daughter of Reverend Mitchell and Willie Biggs. She was preceded in death by her parents, four brothers: William, James, Jerry, and David Biggs, and one sister, Wanda Biggs Morrison. The bride of Elvis Lee Barton for sixty-one years, Ann’s most treasured roles were wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, friend and Nanny to countless children that she loved as her own. Elvis and Ann married at Sours Baptist Church in Irving, Texas, on June 27, 1954. Upon their marriage, they moved to Hawaii, where Elvis soon left for his first US Coast Guard assignment. As a young, twenty-year old newlywed, Elvis describes Ann as the perfect service wife. She stayed by herself in Hawaii, knowing no one, while her husband served for six months in Japan. Many women would have balked at this, but she did not. Her selfless service continued to her family as she became a mother and raised her two children during his service in the United States Coast Guard and The United States Air Force. Throughout their married lives, Elvis and Ann lived in Hawaii, Kansas, Texas, Florida, Germany, Kansas, Thailand, and Virginia, before ultimately making their home in Arlington, Texas. Ann spent her life loving her family and caring for the people that she loved the most. As described by one of her precious granddaughters, “Grandmother fiercely loved all who were hers with a love that has no bounds and knows the reaching depths of a vast ocean. She stood fast with our Lord Jesus in a world which meant to break her strong spirit, and right down to the end she would lift her hands and praise God for his sweet mercies.” A faithful member of Mayfield Road Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, for over twenty-seven years, Ann served as nursery coordinator and cooked more meals for people than she was ever asked to do. She also served in The Texas Professional Home Child Care Association and as president of the Arlington Childcare Association for many years. Ann is survived by her husband, Elvis, of Arlington, Texas; two children: daughter, Tess Halbert, and husband, Tommy, of Arlington, Texas; Son, Eric Barton, and wife, Martha, of Bryan, Texas; six grandchildren: Whitney Parlin, and husband, Brad, of Highland Village, Texas; Brandon Barton, and wife, Allison, of Arlington, Texas; Darrin Barton, and wife, Jamie, of Houston, Texas; Soney Day, and husband Chris, of Little Elm, Texas; Tawney Ann Davis, and husband, Chris, of Dallas, Texas; nine great- grandchildren: Dane Parlin, Avaree Barton, Paige Parlin, Tanner Day, Felicity Barton, Blair Barton, Brandt Barton, Owen Day, and Baby Girl Barton due in November. She is also survived by four sisters: Juanita Kolenovsky, of Arlington, Texas; Dorothy Nelson, of Mt. Vernon, Texas; Jo Churchill, of Houston, Texas; and Miriam Spann, of Arlington, Texas; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, great- nieces, great-nephews, and countless babies that she has loved as Nanny over the years.