Dates
Gloria was born on August 27, 1941, to George and Ollie Myers in Brady, Texas. She graduated from Rochelle High School in 1959 and from Howard Payne University in 1963. She married Kenneth Wayne Barr on August 27, 1960, at the Rochelle Baptist Church. They recently celebrated 65 years of marriage in August 2025.
She taught school, coached, and directed One Act plays for over 30 years. After her retirement, she and Kenneth moved back home to Rochelle where she opened her Barrtiques antique store in both Rochelle and Brady. She was a very talented artist who was selected to showcase her paintings at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in 2022. She was a devoted member of Rochelle Baptist Church where she was the choir director for over 20 years.
Momma Barr, a woman who wore many titles so effortlessly, and a beautiful mom – a woman of endless talent, courage, grit, grace and endless creativity. She was a teacher in every sense of the word. Not just in the classroom, but in life. She did not just teach lessons from books she taught strength. Compassion. Creatively. She believed in people before they believed in themselves, she taught courage, resilience, and how to show up fully for the people around you. She believed in her students fiercely and helped them see gifts in themselves they didn’t even know they had.
She directed plays with vision and heart, and then lovingly sewed every costume by hand so her students could step onto that stage feeling proud and confident. She didn’t just teach art — she modeled what it meant to live creatively. She didn’t just direct plays — she built community.
She could paint with any medium and turn a blank canvas into something breathtaking. Her artwork was nothing short of remarkable. Oils, acrylics, watercolor-and master each one. Her paintings weren’t just beautiful; they told stories. They captured light, emotion and landscape, they carried pieces of her spirit in every brushstroke. Her art lives on in homes, on walls and in hearts-little windows into the way she saw the world. She did not just create art with her students-she create confidence.
And she had an eye for antiques that amazed everyone. She could walk into a barn, an estate sale, or a dusty corner of a shop and instantly recognize what others would have dismissed. Where others saw junk, she saw history, craftsmanship, stories just waiting to be told. Where others saw clutter, she saw treasure, she recognized value that most people overlooked-in objects and in people. She knew the difference between worn out and well loved. She understood eras, markers, details-the weight of the real wood, the hand stitching, and the patina that only time can create.
She was fearless enough to hunt rattles snakes on ranches and gas out dens when needed — strong, capable, and unafraid of hard things. Yet she was also the one who would rescue and rehabilitate any injured or abandoned animal she found. From all the Owl, crows, bobcats, roadrunners, foxes, raccoons, skunks, fawns, ringtail cats- she didn’t just love animals-she fought for them. She opened her home-The Barr Zoo- her time and her heart without hesitation. And they loved her back. She bottle fed. She bandaged. She rehabilitated. She stayed up through the night, she gave them not just shelter, but a chance. Because to her, their lives mattered.
She was strong, capable, compassionate, and deeply loved by all who knew her. Her home was a safe place. Her wisdom was steady. Her love was constant.
She was loved by so many because she gave so much of herself — her time, her talent, her laughter, her heart, her voice, her love and the way she made everyone feel important will live on in every life she touched.
She loved so deeply that every inch of her home is covered with traces of her children, her grandchildren, and great grandchildren…her treasures. Everything she loved, she loved like it was priceless.
God calls us to love, because God is love. We are called to be salt and light. She loved Jesus and that love poured into her life. That is her legacy, a legacy of love.
She will be missed more than words can hold. But her way of seeing the world through a beautiful lens will live on in all of us she touched.
Gloria was proceeded in death by her parents, her brothers Maynard and Willie Myers, and beloved son Jefferson Lance Barr.
She is survived by her husband of 65 years Kenneth Barr of Rochelle, her son Greg Barr and wife Teresa of Rochelle, her daughter Christie Viles and husband Joe of Lubbock, granddaughters Tiffany Moorman and husband Cade of Wall, Briana Wilde and husband Cory of Greenwood, Sydni Flowers and husband Darius of Aledo, and grandson Cody Barr and girlfriend Meagan of San Angelo.
She leaves behind seven cherished great grandchildren – Harper and Eli Moorman of Wall, Carson and Gage Wilde of Greenwood, and Taylor, Jordyn, and Brady Flowers of Aledo. She is also survived by her sister Christine Pulsifer of Austin, sister-in-law Sara Myers of Rochelle, and daughter-in-law Leigh Ann Barr-Smith of Wall, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Pallbearers will be son Joe Viles, grandsons Cade Moorman, Cory Wilde, Darius Flowers, and Cody Barr, and great nephew Brodey Myers.
Visitation with the family will be held at Rochelle Baptist Church from noon-1:30 pm and service to follow at 2 pm with Brother James Vallee officiating.
Services are being provided by Johnson’s Funeral Home of San Angelo, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to:
Rochelle Baptist Church
PO Box 126
Rochelle, Texas 76872