Barbara Diamond

By Barbara Rice

There’s an angel who cares for me always,

Whose vigilance is always over me.

Her love I can depend on forever;

In my heart, she will always be.

She’s kind and she’s true and faithful;

She’s sweet and pure and strong.

This angel is my Mother,

And to me, she can do no wrong.

This angel was sent down from heaven

To bring joy to hearts like mine,

And though I may search forever,

No sweeter love could I find.

Her voice is sweeter than honey;

With the angels she always sings.

I’m lucky to call her Mother;

In my heart, she will always reign.

Barbara Diamond, age 85, passed away peacefully and prayerfully with her family Friday, March 14, 2025.

Barbara lived a full and happy life. Born in Omar, West Virgina, as one of nine children, she grew up working on the family farm and helping to raise her younger siblings.

At age 18, she made the brave decision to leave home and join the Navy as a WAVE. While serving at the Norfolk Naval Station, she met her future husband, Jack, and left the service to start her family.

For 25 years, she owned and operated her own business, The Stamping Place, in which she sold and customized stamps and hosted scrapbooking events for her clients. It was there that she met Judy Onos, who became her best friend for the remainder of her life. When Barbara felt it was time to retire, she left the store to Judy and joined her daughter, Missy, at her farm in Tennessee.

Barbara quickly took to life on the farm, partly because she was back with her beloved family — her son, Mike, lived close enough to visit regularly, but also because it brought out many of the skills she learned and joy she had from her childhood.

She enjoyed landscaping, birdwatching and gardening and tending to chickens and goats.

As part of her contribution to the family, she cooked memorable meals from an ever-growing list of recipes that she collected over the years. She greatly enjoyed her autonomy in not only selecting the meals but also in driving to the grocery on the back winding roads in her green Honda Element to retrieve the ingredients for them. Her kindness and independence always went hand in hand.

She loved the farm and everything about it, especially her bedroom, soaker tub, and sitting in a glider on the wide front porch in one of her warm robes and soft slippers sipping a big cup of coffee as she looked out at the cows and the horizon and engaged in conversation with Mike, Missy, or John, Missy’s husband, or comfortably sat alone.

She also adored her grandchildren, Jessica and John, and her greatgrandchildren, Landon and Cooper. She was a caring person who shared her love and attention with family and all those around her.

Her children, in going through Barbara’s boxes of photos, found the poem written above by her about her own mother. As Barbara became a woman, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, she carried on those same qualities she so admired in her own mother. It’s touching that the poem is now a reflection of her and a fitting tribute to what she means to her family.

Barbara was predeceased by her mother, Mae; dad, Willie; brothers, Bill, Tommy and Johnny; and sister, Alberta. She is survived by her son, Mike; daughter, Missy; and her husband, John; her sisters, Phyllis, Sue and Ginger; her brother, Everett; and her best friend, Judy.

She was dearly loved by her family for her kindness, giving nature, quick wit, engaging sense of humor and ready laugh and also for the love she so freely gave. She cared deeply about her family and friends and showed it. She will be missed but never forgotten by those who were blessed to be a part of her life.

She will be laid to rest with two of her sweet companions throughout the years, Beaujo and Riley, near her childhood home.