I just found Barbara’s obituary…what a personality..I worked with her at Investment Corp in the arcade in Norfolk VA…she took me under her wing..my fist job after high school..1960…we had many lunches together….and after my first husband’s death, I remarried and she came to our wedding (1997)…
Always prim and proper..quite the lady..so sorry we lost contact..
May she Rest In Peace….
Also sorry to lose Babs and her dad Manning…
Betty Hayslett Whitener
Richmond VA

From the first time I met Barbara on the day her daughter and I became suite mates our freshman year at Radford, through years of celebrations, heartaches and strange twists of fate; I came to admire her resilience and fierce love of family.  She took great pride in her appearance, her home, and most of all, in her daughter and grandchildren.  She could be absolutely appropriately dressed and coifed 'to the nines', delight in a party and a good joke, enjoy her dramatic ''stories" and trade tales and stats of baseball games with the best of them. Like her daughter, she was a force of nature; and loved her grandchildren unconditionally.

I met Barbara Minnix (then Rooks) 50 years ago, when I was a high school junior sharing a couple of classes at Lake Taylor High with her beloved daughter, Barbara.

While at school one afternoon, I developed a stomach ache I just couldn't shake. When I mentioned this to my classmate Barbara, she sprang into action, loading me into her car and taking me to her home to be introduced to her mother.

Over the next two hours, I was given Maalox, fed chicken soup and generally coddled as if I were Barbara M's own child--little knowing that seven years later I'd marry her daughter and become her son-in-law. Barbara M's gift to all of us who knew her and were members of her family was her willingness to provide care and comfort in times of need.

And in the decades that followed, there were many occasions where the giving of such care was needed.

Barbara M was there for her second husband, Billy Greenway, when he developed a malignant brain tumor shortly after they married in 1974 and died less than a year later. 

And for our family when her grandson David, at age 2, suffered a fall that fractured his skull and resulted in a two-month hospital stay.

And when her daughter was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in the spring of 1992, Barbara M dropped everything, leaving her home in VA to spend weeks on end with our family in GA, cooking, cleaning, baby-sitting and doing whatever else we asked of her to help make life for our four kids as "normal" as possible under the circumstances.

The care that Barbara Minnix provided to our family during Barbara A's six-year battle with cancer demonstrated far more than forcefully than any words could the strength of her love--for her daughter and for her grandchildren. Our family was truly blessed by  what she so selflessly contributed.

Bill Austin

I always take photos, but sometimes moments can only be remembered by how they made you feel. Sometimes a simple conversation over breakfast is profound. 

Memaw was an engaging conversationalist. I will never forget her visit to our home in Maryland in the summer of 2016 when she awoke early to have breakfast with me before I went to work. Patrick had already left, so he could come home early. Memaw (Barbara) was so happy, enjoying a cupcake and some coffee. She was so pleased to be able to visit us and cuddle with our dog, GiGi. It was a work day and I hated to leave her, so I went in late that day. I remember being compelled to sit in the kitchen and drink more coffee and chat with her longer. We had some "girl-talk" and covered many topics, including the future, our family, her daughter, cell phones, and babies. Sometimes you don't have an image of a moment, but you have a feeling that will never leave you. The way we connected and bonded on that morning will never leave me. I'll hold onto that feeling along with all my memories of her forever.

This quote reminds me of Memaw... 

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”


― Maya Angelou

June 2016 - Laura and I had the pleasure of hosting Meemaw at our home in Rockville, Md. from June 4th to the 14th. We were somewhat concerned about how she would handle being in a new environment (she was residing in Chesapeake, Va at the time). When we first arrived home on the 4th, Meemaw sat down on the sofa, put her feet up, and popped open a cold bottle of Woodchuck Hard Cider. We knew then it would be a great visit and she was just fine. :)

OBITUARY

Barbara Bullock Minnix

22 February, 1928 – 11 November, 2017

Woodlawn Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens

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