Barbara Copeland

Barbara Lee Copeland, 82, passed away on Sunday, January 10, 2016, in Clermont. She was born in Columbus, Ohio on September 3, 1933, the daughter of Henry Stanley and Gladys (Long) Rathburn. She was married to Samuel Wright Copeland on August 11, 1957, and they came to Central Florida in 1973.

Barbara was a loving wife and a wonderful mother of two daughters, Lucille Hobby and Lisa Hester. She devoted herself to her family and she loved making the kinds of things that money could never buy. She was creative and quick-witted, always with a comment or retort that would leave you laughing long afterwards. Barbara made clothes, dolls, costumes, scrapbooks, food and so much more. She was soft and soothing to children and her pets, of which there are many blessed to have been loved by her.

Barbara is preceded in death by her parents, her beloved husband Sam, her sister Edith Copeland and brother-in-law Earl Copeland, and her son-in-law Allen Hester. She is survived by her daughter Lucy (with her husband Jimmie Hobby) and her daughter Lisa. She will also be greatly missed by her grandchildren, Ryan and his wife Michele Hobby, Shannon and her husband Paul Urbach, Kelly and her husband Jonathan Kinney, and Alana and her husband Francisco Sanchez, as well as her great-grandchildren, James, Madeline, Evan, Leah, Caitlyn, Sean (and Eveline on the way). She also leaves behind her nephew Stanley Copeland and family, niece Lynette Andrews and family, and nephew Colen Copeland and family.

Arrangements have been made by Grissom Funeral Home. In honor of her wishes, her ashes will be combined with her late husband’s in a coral reef off the coast of Florida.