Barbara Harris

Hopewell: Heaven gained a very special angel on Friday, September 26, when God suddenly called home our precious MomMom, Barbara Lou Fields Harris, in a car accident. She will be sorely missed. Bright-Holland Funeral Home has scheduled services for 2:00 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29th, at Oak Park United Methodist Church with Rev. Judi Brandt and Rev. Steve Cook officiating. Burial will follow in Hopewell Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 – 8 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Her loving and capable hands and caring smile were always present when someone was in need; she never said no to any request, especially when it came from one of her grandchildren. Barbara was born on April 7, 1940, in Lamar County, the daughter of Vernon Fields and Margie Essary Fields. She graduated from Delmar High School in 1958 and East Texas State University in 1961, after which she began a career as a first grade teacher in Forney, Texas. That career took a back seat, however, when she met Gus Harris, Jr., through their special friends Jimmy Don and Bobbie Lou Preston. The two married on July 1, 1966, and she became a stay-at-home wife, mother, and grandmother to her much loved husband, daughters and grandchildren. For 48 happy years, Gus and Barbara shared a life together in Hopewell, strengthened by the love and support of many friends and family. For many years, until the church closed its doors, the two were a driving force of Hopewell United Methodist Church. Since then, Barbara has been an ever-present and hardworking member of Oak Park United Methodist Church in Paris, where she plays the piano for the Gleaner’s Sunday School Class. She was the secretary of the Hopewell Cemetery Association, a member of the Lamar County Historical Society, and the Red River Valley Tractor Club, and the secretary of the Hopewell Community Center. She and Gus were among those who helped oversee the founding of the Lamar County Historical Society’s museum in downtown Paris. Barbara is survived by her Husband, Gus, daughters and sons-in-law, Dennis and Kristi Hodgkiss and Alice and Greg Hignight, all of Hopewell; her grandchildren Carver Hodgkiss and fiancé Aerial Wesberry of Tyler, Colin and Katie Hodgkiss of Hopewell, Grace Hignight of Hopewell and Garon Hignight of Paris, and Ashley Carney and husband Jesse of Durant, Oklahoma; her sister and brother-in-law Virginia and Gary Cope; her brother and sister-in-law Benny and Cheryl Fields; her brother-in-law Charles Arnold; nieces and nephews Hope Hughes and husband Scott, Kevin Nimmo and wife Mona, Paul Fields, DeAnn Anderson and husband Terry, Tommy Arnold and wife Lorie, and Stephen Arnold and wife Sheri, as well as many great nieces and nephews and cousins, all of whom she adored. She was preceded in death by her parents, Vernon and Margie Fields. Casket bearers will be: Tommy Arnold, Stephen Arnold, Paul Fields, Kevin Nimmo, Jimmy Don Preston, Larry Cunningham, Gerald Harris & Perry Neeley. Dick James will serve as an honorary bearer.