Her Story
Carolyn June “Lee” Barger
January 9, 1944 – September 18, 2026
Our mom, Carolyn June “Lee” Barger, left this world in the early morning hours of Friday, September 18, 2026, at Hampton Place Healthcare in Rogers, Arkansas, surrounded by family. She was 82. For 55 years she called Poplar Bluff, Missouri home, and the people there knew her as Lee.
Mom came into the world on January 9, 1944, the oldest of Mildred Irene Pratt’s three children, and she spent her early years in St. Louis. Her brothers Don and Dennis came after her. Their father was an alcoholic who abused his wife and all three kids for most of their childhood. We have chosen to leave his name out of her story.
Our grandmother Mildred was slight, but she was mighty. When the situation with their father got worse, she could see where they were headed: if she stayed, she or one of her children would end up injured for life or killed. One night in St. Louis, she waited until he passed out drunk, then she and the kids pushed the car down to the road and drove away. They never looked back. She worked multiple jobs, and gave her kids all the patience and love any child could need. Mildred broke the cycle for her children, and we consider her a hero.
Abuse like that leaves scars on a person, and those scars often carry into the generations that follow. Over the years Mom found healing through her faith in God and the friends and family around her. The scars stayed with her, and so did the ache of that early rejection. One of the bravest things a person can do is know the full price of rejection and choose to love people with their whole heart anyway. Mom felt that fear and gave herself to people regardless. She had a courageous spirit nobody could break. She could have let her hurts turn to bitterness. Instead she used them to help other people work through theirs, and she truly loved people the way Jesus instructed.
After high school and beauty school, Mom started her career as a beautician. In 1967 she moved to Poplar Bluff and married our dad, Enos Lou “Ed” Barger Sr. Together they raised three kids: Greg, Enos, and Nikki. Their marriage later ended, but they stayed friends for the rest of her life.
Mom put her children and her family first. She made a wonderful home and poured her heart into us. Teaching was her calling, though she never held the title, and her teaching reached far past our family. She talked friends through hard situations, taught people to cook, and led women’s Bible studies. She learned sign language so she could interpret church services for the hearing impaired, then taught others to sign so the ministry would continue beyond her. She gardened, sewed, crocheted and knitted, and she cooked for anyone who came through the door. Investing love in people was the fabric of who she was.
For more than 50 years Mom stood behind the chair and served thousands of clients. They came for a haircut and left with a friend, some advice, and a lot of love. She gave people a safe place to land, and she treated the people she loved like family. We can’t count how many of them she helped lead to salvation in Christ, but we know there were many.
Her faith in the Lord held firm through all of it. In Poplar Bluff she attended Twin Springs, Living Word, and New Covenant churches. She was part of International Gospel Outreach, a ministry Pastor David Groves and his wife, Karen, founded in Poplar Bluff. Mom traveled with the ministry on two mission trips to Moldova.
Mom loved her mother fiercely. When Mildred declined with Alzheimer’s, Mom cared for her through the hardest days, giving more than she had and showing up again the next morning. In January 2021, Enos and Becca moved Mom to Rogers and cared for her as she faced dementia and Alzheimer’s.
On Tuesday morning, September 15, a nurse came in to greet her, and Mom told her, “I’m ready to go.” The nurse asked where. “To heaven,” Mom said. The nurse told her they weren’t ready to let her go, and Mom answered without hesitation: it was okay, she wanted to go, and Jesus was waiting for her. We didn’t learn about that conversation until after she passed, when that nurse returned from her days off. At 2:30 that Tuesday afternoon we got the call that Mom was showing signs the end was near. It comforts us to know she chose her time and went in peace.
Those last days gave us such sweet moments with her. Now and then she woke, and we watched her face change when she recognized us. Her eyes smiled and filled with love, and we believe she knew goodbye was coming. We leaned in, pressed our cheeks to hers, and whispered in her ear, and she rubbed her face against ours. When we pulled back, she puckered her lips and leaned forward for a kiss.
Mom now joins her mother, Mildred Irene Pratt; her brothers, Dennis Pratt and Don Pratt; and her son, Gregory Allen Barger, of Poplar Bluff, who died in 2018.
She leaves behind her son, Enos Lou Barger Jr., and his wife, Rebecca Elkins Barger, of Bentonville, Arkansas; her daughter, Nikki Dabbs, and her husband, Marcus Dabbs, of Camdenton, Missouri; her daughter-in-law, Tawana Barger, of Poplar Bluff; and her sister-in-law, Brenda Pratt, of Little Rock, Arkansas. She also leaves her grandchildren, Gregory Ryan Barger, Jimmy Kyle Barger, Dawn Isabella Barger, John Monkus, Katie Barger, Brianna Barger, Lexi Dabbs, and Regan Dabbs; her step-grandchildren, Lauren Elkins and Alex Elkins; and one great-grandson, Gregory Alexander Barger. She also leaves Penelope Barger, her daughter-in-law for many years, whose care and friendship never left her, and her former husband, Ed Barger, of Poplar Bluff.
Epting Funeral Home in Bentonville is handling cremation arrangements. Our family is planning a Celebration of Life in Poplar Bluff later this year, and we will share details once they are set.
In lieu of flowers, you can make memorial contributions to Alzheimer’s Arkansas (alzark.org) or to International Gospel Outreach, the ministry Mom served with, at 1910 Nugent Dr., Mansfield, TX 76063.
From Enos
I was a strong-willed kid, and I know there were times that I was not easy to raise. On nights when Mom was tired and worn down, she sat with me anyway and patiently talked things through until I found my way to the truth. I understand now how much patience that took. My own ability to communicate and meet people where they are grew out of those conversations, while she was loving me through my hardest stretches.
As a kid I took the way she loved people for granted. As a grown man, I admire it more every year.
When my grandmother declined with Alzheimer’s, I watched Mom care for her through the worst of it. She showed such love, grace and empathy. I didn’t realize it then, but she was laying out a blueprint that I would later look to follow as her caregiver.
A few months ago, during one of my visits, she told me she was worried about how her passing would affect me. I told her the grief would run deep and that I would be okay, and I wanted her to rest knowing she had done more than anyone could have asked of her.
The day before she passed, she woke up and I leaned over her so she knew I was there. Her eyes brightened as she recognized me, and in that moment a wave of grief crashed over me. She saw it in my face, and her expression shifted to reflect a softness and concern. She mouthed, “I love you. It’s okay,” and smiled at me. Even in her moment of facing the end of her life, she was comforting me. That was my mom in a nutshell. And the hole left in her absence will never be filled.