Dorothy "Dot" Meux

Dorothy Barker Meux passed away Christmas Eve, 2020, at Desoto Health Care Skilled Nursing Facility in Southaven, Mississippi. A memorial service was held on Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at 2 p.m. at Memphis Funeral Home, 5599 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, 38119.

Dorothy Jean Barker was born in Marianna, Arkansas, on December 3, 1929. Her parents were Walter Franklin and Irene Starkey Barker who instilled in all of their children a great love of music. She was the second oldest of their four children, Joyce Alyne, Dorothy Jean, Emily Jane, and Sylvia Ann. In 1932, they moved to Helena Arkansas, and shortly after to West Helena, Arkanasas.

In Helena, Dorothy (Dot) worked at the Royal Bakery near her home and also at the movie theater, where she was allowed to watch movies free of charge and developed her love for movies. She graduated from Helena High School in 1947, where she played basketball. She continued her education at the Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Memphis, Tennessee, from which she graduated in 1950. During this time she met Kennon A Huggins, Jr., at choir practice while attending the Union Avenue Methodist Church. They married in 1950, in Helena, Arkansas. Shortly after, he was drafted into the Army. Dot and Kennon had two children, Marilyn Ann and Phyllis Jane "Sissy". Kennon was killed by a mortar attack while serving in the U.S. Army in an artillery unit in Korea, in 1953.

Dot returned to West Helena after Kennon’s death and five years later married her second husband James (Jimmy) Henry Carter, a pharmacist from West Helena who later became owner of City Drug Store on Plaza Street in West Helena. They had three children, James "Jimbo" Henry Carter II, Connie Irene, and Sandra Lynn, and raised all 5 children together. During the years in West Helena, Dot continued her work in nursing and worked at Crestpark and Helena Hospital where she continued her education in nursing by attending cardiology training. She was also Nursing Supervisor and an Arkansas Public Hearth District Nurse.

Dot married her third husband, William (Bill) Leigh Meux, Jr. in 1979, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel pilot and Associate Professor of Civil Engineering from Mississippi State University, Starkeville, Mississippi. During their time in Starkeville, Dot took classes at MSU and while there achieved her private pilot license and developed a passion for art, becoming an accomplished artist. After Bill retired from Mississippi State they resided in Montgomery, Alabama, where Dot was active in bridge and garden clubs and continued her painting. When Bill died in 2008, Dorothy then moved to Town Village in Memphis, Tennessee, to be near her children and their families. She later transferred to Hermitage Gardens of Southaven, Mississippi before being transferred to Desoto Health Care shortly before her death.

While Dot is preceded in death by her parents and sisters Joyce and Jane, she is survived by her sister Sylvia (Bob) Meeks of Carthage, Missouri. She was proud of her large family that includes 5 children: Marilyn Huggins Carter (Stan) Hathaway, Phyllis “Sissy” Huggins Carter Shimo (Mike) Gautreaux, James “Jimbo” (Cherie) Carter II, Connie Carter Chamness Worley, and Sandra Carter Kochanski; 14 grandchildren and step- grandchildren Cliff (Stephanie) Hathaway, Dori Hathaway(Dana) Daniel, Brian (Carey) Hathaway, Valerie Shimo (Jason) Dunlap, Kenneth (Amy) Shimo, Michelle and Guy Gautreaux, Heather Carter (Stewart) Whaley, Melanie Carter Green, Hillary Carter (Jerry Don) Miller, Melissa Carter (Chris) Siler, Kristen Chamness (Rob) Struth, Bart (Jennifer) Chamness , and Emily Kochanski. She also had 22 great- grandchildren Liam and Bennett Hathaway; Riley Daniel; Seth, Kyle, Alaina, Emma and Nolan Dunlap; Ellis and Jaeger Whaley; Blair, Cruz and Whit Miller; Garrett, Greer and Lucy Green; Zander and Koda Siler, Elliot Struth; Jackson, Everett, and soon to be Baby Chamness; and 2 step great-grandchildren Lauren Young (Gautreaux) and Landon Price (Gautreaux).

The service was live streamed via www. facebook.com/memphisfuneral/ for all of those unable to attend.