Barbara Jean Smith

Barbara Jean “Bobbi” Smith, 77, of Sedalia, MO, passed away on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at her home surrounded by family in Sedalia. She was born on May 13, 1945, in Moberly, MO, the daughter of Ethell William and Goldie Pearl (Klingsmith) Skinner, who preceded her in death.

On November 24, 1971, in Miami, OK., she was united in marriage to Glenn Eugene “Smitty” Smith, who preceded her in death on November 7, 2008.

The youngest of thirteen children, Barbara Jean Skinner (Bobbi), grew up very poor but very rich in God’s grace, drawing her near to himself as the adult she would become. Bobbi had a heart full of love for everyone…the lost, the poor, and the downtrodden. She had experienced these things herself but understood God’s heart to see these people as God saw them.

Sometimes this caused her to be mercilessly used, but most times, she was amazingly blessed. The loving heart God gave her helped her be a gentle but strong mother to her two daughters and to Glenn’s three daughters that would enter her life.

She and her husband, Glenn, were enduring partners who met at Western Electric (AT&T Technologies) in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, when her daughters were very young. They began their adventures in November 1971, blending together each of their own families after a whirlwind courtship. Glenn’s daughters (Glenda, Brenda, and Star) joined Bobbi’s daughters (Sherri and Connie) in the new family.

Glenn and Bobbi bought twenty acres, moved, and started their own homestead in the farming community of Warrensburg, Missouri. There they raised Sherri and Connie to their adult years in that little house built by the sweat of their brows and the love of The Father. They raised gardens, cows, and pigs.

Music was an integral part of the whole of Bobbi’s life, from singing on the radio as a child with her brothers and sisters to harmonizing with her daughters on car rides. She most enjoyed being with the traveling Mujuko singers in high school and singing special Music during her church life until devastating throat complications in later years slowly took her beautiful voice.

Bobbi was a very hands-on partner who embraced her role and put her whole heart into whatever she did: canning, gardening, nursing sick animals, bucking hay, sewing, and tutoring. She had an intelligent and inquisitive mind that never stopped learning and was always compelled to share her knowledge with those she knew to help them along the way. She even learned about car mechanics from Glenn and could get herself out of being broken down on a country road. Bobbi was a can-do kind of woman who overcame the challenges her life would bring. As empty-nesters, Bobbi and Glenn enjoyed weekends of blue-grassing. Still, their best legacy was promoting God’s word, which Bobbi continued after the death of her “Beloved” by teaching Bible Studies to many groups endlessly and being part of the Association of Churches, which supported those goals.

Bobbi also enjoyed her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren and would become a published author in the final years of her life, an accomplishment her family encouraged her to pursue. She was able to put into words the struggles God purposed in her life in her book “Echoes of Mercy, Whispers of Love.” As evidenced through her life, it is no doubt that she will hear, “Well done, Bobbi, thou good and faithful servant!”

Bobbi is survived by her four daughters, Sherri Elaine Jackson and her husband Robert of Warrensburg, MO, Connie Estelle Harper of Columbia, MO, Glenda Jean Casey and husband Timothy of Bates City, MO, and Brenda Kaye Hurshman and her husband Mike of FL; 12 grandchildren; several great-grandchildren; three sisters, Julie DuChene, Geri Herring, and Mary Donovan; one brother, Carl “Mick” W. Skinner, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Besides her parents and husband, Bobbi is preceded in death by a daughter, Starlene Rene Mitchell; son-in-law, Bill Harper; granddaughter, Tina Wheeler; and several brothers and sisters.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, May 8, 2023, at East Sedalia Baptist Church, with Pastor Jonathan Wallenbeck officiating.

A visitation will be held from 12:30 p.m.- 2:00 p.m. prior to the service at the church.

Private family burial will be held at a later date in the Edmonson Baptist Church Cemetery near Lincoln.

Pallbearers will be Robert Jackson, Tim Casey, Eric Hughey, Peter Casey, Shane Hall, Travis Tynes, John Anderson, and John Kennedy.

Memorial contributions may be made to East Sedalia Baptist Church for the North American Mission Board in the care of Rea Funeral Chapel.