Shirley Barton

Services will be held graveside Saturday, March 22 at 2 p.m., at Memory Chapel Funeral Home with Rev. Joyce Snyder officiating, and Memory Chapel Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider directing. Visitation will be one hour prior to service. Interment will be at Memory Hill Gardens immediately following the service.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Paul Barton; father, Oden Adams; mother, Dora Ashley Adams; brother, Richard Adams; sisters, Anita Crawford, and Kay Taylor.

Survivors include daughters Lori Snead (John) and Nancy Terry (Steve), son Russ Barton (Tracy), grandchildren Hannah Costanzo (Ryan), Lesley Davis (Cory), Aimee Stormer (Andrew), John Paul Snead, Adrian Cortes (David), Rachel Langford (Alex), Brett Barton (Amelia), Jackson Barton (Jada); great grandchildren Chandler and Peyton Davis; Sutton and Smith Costanzo; Scottie and Jack Stormer; Amos, Mabel, and Oliver Cortes; Timothy Langford; Sawyer, Samuel, and Harvey Barton; and Marshall Barton; and sisters-in-law Betty Thompson and Martha Barton.

Shirley Barton was born on November 8, 1934 to Oden and Dora Adams in Choctaw County. She graduated from Greensboro High School in 1953. After graduating, she worked for Sokol Furniture Company first in Greensboro and then in Tuscaloosa. Shirley married Paul Barton of Tuscaloosa on March 15, 1958. After being a full-time homemaker for many years while raising their three children, Shirley returned to the workforce, first for Ed Singley’s Allstate Insurance and then later at Capstone Medical Center at the University of Alabama where she retired after 21 years of service. She was a faithful member of Alberta United Methodist Church and then Forest Lake United Methodist Church.

Shirley was an excellent Southern cook and baker. She had a sweet tooth, so there was almost always a delicious cake or pie to be had in her kitchen. As her family grew and her children married, Shirley faithfully prepared wonderful meals each Sunday for years and years. She could sew and make anything, often in a group that quilted and sewed, the fruits of their labor given to those in need. She enjoyed using her talents for others and, as a result, many of her hand sewn bags made their way to Honduras in support of mission work there. As her abilities waned for what she could do herself she taught many of her caregivers to crochet which gave her great joy. Her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will remember her as mild mannered, quick to smile, and generous with the snacks she kept on hand. Shirley loved deeply, cared genuinely, and shared freely.

Pallbearers are Ryan Costanzo, Cory Davis, Andrew Stormer, John Paul Snead, David Cortes, Alex Langford, Brett Barton, and Jackson Barton.

Honorary pallbearers are the Connections Sunday School class at Forest Lake United Methodist Church, Hospice of West Alabama, and caregivers Rita Hendrix, Martha Rogers, Thanual Crawford, Vicki Davis, Lib Sullivan, Veronica Gaddy, Judy Richardson, Diamond Cason, and Diane Burt.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to Hospice of West Alabama (3851 Loop Road, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404 – https://www.hospiceofwestal.com/) or Forest Lake United Methodist Church (1711 4th Avenue, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 – https://www.forestlakeumc.org/).

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at https://www.dignitymemorial.com for the Barton family.