Ernestine Dolores Barnes

Ernestine Dolores Barnes August 23, 1920 February 6, 2014 Tishomingo, Oklahoma At the end of a beautiful life, Ernestine Barnes died on a Thursday. She left this world surrounded in love. She was born Ernestine Dolores Smith on August 23, 1920 in Kingston, Oklahoma, to Eulys Gridley Smith and Lena Arena Gilmore. Ernestine grew up in and out of trouble with her older brother Walton and younger sister Wanda. Ernestine was a brown-haired, brown-eyed beauty, and as a high school junior, she was crowned the Allen Football Queen. Classmate Harry Barnes began courting Ernestine and soon, through love letters from Fort Benning, Georgia, he won her heart. On a short leave from the National Guard, Harry proposed and married his "$10 bride" on January 19, 1943. She spent the next 71 years talking over him and correcting his stories. While following her husband through his military and dental careers, Ernestine raised three terrific boys, graduated from East Central University, taught school and Sunday School, worked as a medical assistant, owned and operated a Hallmark store, and was always hosting guests in their home. She was a talented cook, seamstress and gardener. Her flowerbeds were legendary. Ernestine had a fondness for all things pretty, especially fresh-cut flowers, fancy jewelry, painted fingernails, and big hair. Nothing stood in the way of her weekly "beauty appointments" in town. She also refused to miss her afternoon "soaps" on TV. Ernestine loved retirement on Blue River and their cabin home there. She could line up dominoes during a game of Turkey Track and, at the same time, tell you every species of bird that came to eat at one of her countless feeders. She complained about the squirrels but secretly loved watching their antics. Ernestine will be missed by her husband, Harry, and their three sons: Terry, David, and Renny. She was adored by her six grandchildren (the girls were her favorites) and her four great-grandchildren. Her friends are too many to count. In 2000, Ernestine wrote that she hoped to be remembered for being a good wife, mother, and grandmother, and for being faithful to God and the Baptist church. Go confidently, Ernestine, for you assuredly are. SERVICES Visitation Sunday February 9, 2014 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM Tishomingo Funeral Home Chapel 705 North Kemp Tishomingo, OK 73460 Funeral Service Monday February 10, 2014 10:00 AM