Remembering ‘The Poppy Lady’
Laurine Barnett is remembered for her unconditional love and investment in other people.
Barnett, who was affectionately known as “The Poppy Lady,” for distributing red poppies during Memorial Day, was recognized as a Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce Pioneer Citizen in 2001 for her civic engagement and community contributions.
She died on June 8 at the age of 97, according to her obituary, printed in Wednesday’s edition of the Herald-Leader. Her funeral service took place on Saturday at First Baptist Church in Siloam Springs.
“Laurine Barnett spent 97 years on earth, 74 of them married to her wonderful husband Ray, which is more than the years, but the quality of her exemplary marriage,” said former Gov. Mike Huckabee. “She raised seven truly remarkable children, one of whom, son Jonathan, has been like a brother to me since we first met as teenagers at Boys State in 1972. A photo of the two of us sits prominently in my office today.
“She was the Godly woman described in Proverbs 31. She had the talents and strength to have had a lucrative and successful career on her own, but devoted herself to her family and once they were successfully raised, to her church and community. While I grieve for the Barnett family, I rejoice that after 97 years, there is no doubt that the first thing Laurine heard upon entering God’s Kingdom was ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’
Janet Huckabee, former first lady of Arkansas, said she remembers Barnett for her smile and cheerful attitude.
“Never did I hear her complain or get angry,” she said. “Even when I knew something upset her, she would just smile. As a wife, mother and friend, she was a perfect example to others and I will surely miss her.”
Barnett was born Dora Laurine Hardcastle and grew up in Gentry before marrying Ray Barnett,
according to her obituary. The couple raised seven children — David Barnett, Jane Johnson, Robert Barnett, Mary Boxx, Mark Barnett, Jonathan Barnett and James Barnett — and spent 74 years together before Ray’s death in 2015.
In addition to her role as a mother and wife of a pastor, John Brown University professor and public school teacher, Barnett also actively served the community. She was a Chamber of Commerce Welcome Wagon hostess for more than 25 years, greeting newcomers to town; a leader of the American Legion Women’s Auxiliary; an active member of First Baptist Church; Civitan; the Benton County Republican Women’s Club; and SCAN (Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect).
Steve Abbott, pastor of First Baptist Church, said Barnett lived her faith. Barnett directed Heartbeat Benevolence Ministry at the church, which provided financial help for people who were struggling with particular needs. She also spent time mentoring and teaching young women, sang in the senior adult choir and was involved in other church activities, he said.
“She was the personification of someone who loved people unconditionally,” Abbott said.
Amy Brooker, Barnett’s neighbor and close friend, said Barnett was “in a league of her own when it comes to investing in people.”
Barnett would prepare large meals and host multiple friends and family members for dinner several times a week, she said. Every night Barnett would call and ask “Amy, have you eaten? Come down, I have plenty of food,” she said.
“She had such a passion for people, in particular the poor and disadvantaged, struggling parents, young single mothers,” Brooker said. “She would do anything, she would babysit, take them to job interviews, take them to doctor’s appointments, she would feed them.”
Barnett and her husband would team up to throw weddings and receptions in their home, Brooker said. She arranged for people to get counseling for drug addiction and visited people in jail, she said. The couple also provided marital counseling together, Brooker said.
“There was nothing she wouldn’t do and she never, ever gave up on anybody. … And her reason for doing all that was because she truly cared about people and she loved them because God created them. It was her way to serve God,” Brooker said.
Supporting veterans was important to Barnett and she was always finding ways to raise money for them, whether it was cooking beans and cornbread for the American Legion Auxiliary fundraiser at the Dogwood Festival or distributing poppies at the post office, Brooker said. Over the years, she and her husband transported hundreds of kids to American Legion Boys State and Girls State, she said.
Barnett distributed poppies before Memorial Day for more than 42 years, according to her obituary. Her dedication to veterans and to handing out poppies on Memorial Day stemmed from her family’s service to the military, according to her youngest son, James Barnett. She lost her brother, Robert Hardcastle, in World War II and her husband and brotherin-law also both served during the war, he said. Two of her sons served in the Vietnam War, he said.
Barnett was also very involved in Civitan and was one of the founders of Mothering Matters, Genesis House and Creative Homemakers, Brooker said.
As a parent and grandparent, she was kind and easy, Brooker said.
“Her love language was acts of service,” she said. “She was constantly cooking and serving and trying to do things. She loved unconditionally.”
Barnett and her husband always had a fabulous garden and she would always put up green beans, purple hull peas, apple butter and grape jelly, Brooker said. One of Barnett’s nicknames was the Energizer Bunny because she was motivated when she was helping people and cooking for people, she said.
Barnett is a good example of a modern day good Samaritan, Brooker said. She met people where they were and was never critical or spoke any ill about anyone, she just encouraged them and shared the gospel with them, she said.
“I can’t say enough good about her, she truly had a heart of gold,” Brooker said. “She had a pure heart — no agenda but just doing the right thing.”
Barnett raised a wonderful family and had a kind and caring spirit for everyone she met, according to John Brown III. The Barnetts drove Brown to American Legion Boys State when he was in high school and later Ray Barnett worked in administrative support services at John Brown University while Brown served as college president.
Both Ray and Laurine Barnett were mission minded and always helping others, he said.
“Very quietly, she helped many people over the years who needed a little encouragement and help along the way and did it without anyone noticing,” Brown said. “She and Ray left a great legacy with their family of serving others rather than self.”
When Rose Sparrow and her family came to Siloam Springs after hurricane Katrina in 2005, Barnett became a mentor to her. Sparrow said that Barnett taught her not only to help people but to empower them and give them a hand up rather than a hand out, an important principal she still uses in her job as a career advisor for the Northwest Arkansas Economic Development District.
Both Barnett and her husband were advocates of growing people and their children and grandchildren emulate them and continue their legacy, Sparrow said.
“It was an honor to be considered a friend of the family and more importantly considered as family,” she said.
Laura MacFarland described Barnett as a “grand lady” who left a legacy of prayer and loving people.
“They just invested in people, you felt like you were special,” MacFarland said.
Barnett was the oldest person in MacFarland’s Bible study for women at Camp Siloam.
“She set an extraordinary example to see this woman faithful to study the word in her senior years,” she said.
Barnett prayed, not only in broad strokes, but for each of her children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren by name, MacFarland said.
“She was a woman who modeled and lived by example, lived and loved out loud,” she said.
“Laurine was a special person,” said Grady Nichols Sr. “I don’t know of any kinder person and you could tell by looking at her because she was always smiling. When you saw Laurine, you saw Ray, her husband. They were such an asset to the city of Siloam Springs.”
The couple were both genuine people who were always aware of the needs people had and always doing what was best for others, he said.
“She was a real support for Ray, and for a big family, she was the true matriarch that really made them set apart.”
Jeff Stewart, who is around the same age as Barnett’s sons James and Jonathon Barnett, remembered spending a lot of time in the family’s home as he was growing up. As a parent, Barnett was kind and gracious but also tough enough to raise five boys, he said.
In her later years, Barnett never slowed down and was always willing to meet a need, Stewart said. She ministered to thousands of people over her lifetime, he said.
“I want to emphasize, she loved Jesus, she loved the Lord,” he said. “She impacted my life and she ministered to people because she loved the Lord.”
James Barnett said his family always had people visiting and sharing meals, whether it was two or three or 20. He hardly remembers his mother sitting down for a meal, she was always busy taking care of people, he said.
“She was always loving, always giving, she loved extravagantly and unconditionally, he said.
James Barnett said he always wondered why his mother liked burned things or preferred chicken backs. It wasn’t until years later that he realized that she didn’t like those things more than anyone else, she was just being generous, he said with a laugh.
As a mother and grandmother, she helped her kids and grandchildren feel good about themselves. She never doubted her value as a person or her identity in Christ, he said. She impacted her children through her perseverance and her positive attitude, he said.
As Barnett grew older, her children began to worry that the people she was helping were taking advantage of her or that it could be unsafe, Brooker and James Barnett said.
She told them, “Listen, I do what God tells me to do and I’m not responsible for what they do,” teaching her children another lesson about generosity even at the age of 87, James Barnett said.
“Her purpose in life was just to love God and love others. … She stayed true to who she was, always encouraging, never demanding. She accepted everyone where they were,” James Barnett said.