Barbara Ruth Bennett Rains

Barbara Ruth Bennett Rains, 80, a resident of Pinckard, passed away at her home on April 13, 2023, following a brief illness.

Barbara was born January 1, 1943, in the Cotton Mill Village in Sargeant, Georgia, the third daughter (Connie and Joan) of Ralph Julian Bennett and Doris Marie Hewell. Having a shock of cotton white hair and being relatively small, she was alternately called “cotton top” and “shorty” by her maternal grandfather. Barbara’s mother remarried in 1946 to the man Barbara called “daddy”, Thomas Heflin Askew, and the family relocated to West Point, Georgia where the family expanded with a new brother, Thomas, and sister, Vicky.

Barbara attended school in West Point, graduated from high school in 1961 and married Bobby Joe Rains, Sr on July 14,1962 in a ceremony at Roper Heights Baptist Church. Following the birth of a son in 1963, the Rains family relocated to Ozark, Alabama, where their daughter was born in 1965. In 1966 the family moved to Dothan and Barbara went to work for Gaylord Department store. She completed her AA degree in accounting at Wallace College in 1976 while she worked for Gates Power Drive. Her final job, and the one she enjoyed the most, was working in the lunchroom at Northview High School. She always enjoyed working with the kids, and fondly recalled so many that she encountered during her time there. In her younger days Barbara enjoyed water skiing and playing softball. In later years, she enjoyed travelling and square dancing and she thoroughly enjoyed playing a variety of games with the family, especially Rook and Mexican Train Dominoes. She was an avid Auburn and Atlanta Braves fan. She was a woman of strong faith, and regularly attended Pinckard Methodist Church with her husband.

Barbara is survived by her husband of nearly 61 years, Bobby; her son, Bobby Jr (Louisa); one grandson, Matthew Rains; one sister, Vicky Walden (Lamar); a brother-in-law, Gene Shelnutt; and a sister-in-law, Wanda Askew. She leaves 6 nieces and nephews, Eddie Tingle, Michael Shelnutt, Tom Askew III, Amy Walden Klinck, Brandi Askew, and April Walden Bailey; and numerous grandnieces and nephews. She loved her extended family and was also happy to claim Louisa’s four children from a prior marriage as her own grandchildren, Vic, Jill, Beth, and Jim; and Louisa’s 6 grandchildren, Luke and Lilly Addison, Kayte, Evelyn, Anna Blayke, and Ronnie Grace McNease.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents and stepfather; her daughter, Donna Marie; her sisters, Constance Marie Shelnutt and Joan Annie Tingle; a half-brother, Thomas Heflin Askew II; a brother-in-law, Edmond Earl Tingle; and her nephews, David Shelnutt and Tommy Tingle.

Robert and Toni Byrd · Sunset Memorial Park

1700 Barrington Rd, Midland City AL · (334) 983-6604