Bon Ava Barnes Moore

1924, in Shreveport, LA, to Emmitt Amos Barnes and Nola Gibson Barnes. She graduated as

valedictorian of her class at Bossier City High School in 1941 and attended the College of

Marshall (now known as East Texas Baptist University). She earned a bachelor’s degree in

Biology from Baylor University, where she graduated with the centennial class in 1945. On June

1, 1947, she married A. W. Moore, Jr., also originally of Bossier City, in Collins, MS.

Mrs. Moore often stated that she had “three careers” in her lifetime. In early years after her

college graduation, she worked as a medical technologist in various clinics and hospitals in

Louisiana. When she and her husband moved to Pearl, Mississippi, in 1959, she worked as a

medical technologist at the Veterans Administration hospital in Jackson and assisted her

husband in their grocery store, Skyway Hills Superette in Pearl. After a few years, she began

her second career as an elementary school teacher and furthered her education, earning a

master’s degree in Elementary Education from Mississippi College in the early 1960s. She

taught third grade at Daisy McLaurin Stevens Elementary and Brandon Academy in Brandon,

MS. For her third career, she worked in the public library system in Rankin County, serving at

both Brandon and Pearl libraries.

Her hobbies included reading, travel, listening to classical music, and working in her yard. She

was not a fan of television, crowds, or silliness. She lived through the Great Depression, World

War II, and was a two-time cancer survivor.

At the time of her death, Mrs. Moore was a member of Eastside Baptist Church in Pearl, having

previously held church memberships at Paul Truitt Memorial Baptist Church, now known as

Truitt Baptist Church, in Pearl, and Crossgates Baptist Church in Brandon.

Bon Ava was predeceased by her parents; husband, Arthur W. “Cash” Moore, Jr.; and brother

and sister-in-law, Emmitt Amos Barnes, Jr., and Ann Barker Barnes of Russellville, AR. She is

survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Ava Lynn and Danny Welborn of Brandon;

granddaughter Paige Lewis and husband Jeremy of Brandon; granddaughter Courtney Welborn

of Brandon; great grandsons Truitt Lewis and Trace Lewis of Brandon; nieces and nephews in

Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas; and other extended family.

The family would like to thank the staffs of Home Instead Senior Care of Clinton; MS Home Care

Home Health of Flowood; Mississippi Care Center of Morton; and HomeCare Hospice of Jackson

for caring for Mrs. Moore during her later years.

Visitation will be Monday, April 3, from 4-7 p.m. at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl, MS. The

funeral will be Tuesday, April 4, at 11 a.m. in the same location with visitation one hour prior.

No graveside service will be held. Bon Ava will be buried at Mississippi Veterans Memorial

Cemetery in Newton with her husband, who was a World War II veteran. The family would

appreciate receiving condolences and remembrances online at baldwinleepearl.com.

The family requests that any memorial contributions be made to the Bone Marrow Transplant

Support Fund, University of Mississippi Medical Center Office of Development, 2500 North

State Street, Jackson, MS 39216 or Eastside Baptist Church, 3464 Patterson Drive, Pearl, MS

39208.