Natural-born mother will be missed by many
Barbara J. Gaines was a mother and friend to all.
Ms. Gaines raised 13 children — three of whom were not her own but those of extended relatives. She taught at the Head Start program in Fayette for nearly 30 years where she was fondly called ‘Teacher Bobby” by her students.
“She was a mom to many,” her daughter Tina Gaines said. Tina said she also remembered how childhood friends would come over not knowing Ms. Gaines, but by the time they left, they would call her mom.
Ms. Gaines died at her home in Fayette on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010. She was 73.
She was born in Fayette August 14, 1936 to Will and Mary (Bly) Gaines. She graduated from Sumner High School in Boonville and spent her whole life in Fayette where she became a well-known and much beloved member of its community, her son Richard Gaines said.
Ms. Gaines' love for children and kind spirit led her to become involved in Fayette’s Head Start program during her early twenties, her sister Nadine Bynum said.
“She was a real sweet young person with a beautiful personality,” Bynum said. Ms. Gaines’ sense of charity was widely appreciated, said Tina, who remembered her mom as a woman who would help anyone who needed it.
Ms. Gaines spent a large portion of her life with her partner Robert Cooper, who fathered four of her children and helped raise the rest.
Cooper died in 2003, but Ms. Gaines took it in stride, according to her son Richard Gaines. Nothing seemed to be able to take her down, agreed Richard and Tina. Despite living with cancer for 12 years, Mrs. Gaines remained an upbeat and active woman.
Richard said he didn't notice the cancer taking a toll on his mother’s lively personality until late 2009.
Mrs. Gaines is survived by her seven sons, Anthony, Rodney, Ricky and Kevin Gaines, all of Columbia, Robert and Richard Gaines of Fayette, and Jimmy Gaines of Moberly; six daughters, Debbie Bynum of Kansas City, Pamela Eubanks, Tina Gaines, Valerie Gaines, Carol Gaines and Elizabeth Crump, all of Fayette; two sisters, Mabel Taylor of Detroit, Nadine Bynum of Kansas City; and a brother, Richard Gaines of Fayette; 30 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and siblings.
Four brothers and two sisters died earlier.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at H.T. May and Son Funeral Home, 304 Tolson St., in Fayette. Services will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Linn Memorial United Methodist Church, 409 N. Church St., in Fayette.
Online condolences may be made at htmayfuneralhome.com.
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