Barbara Cobb Wilson

Barbara Cobb Wilson – devout Christian, devoted mother, and a truly beautiful person in every sense of the word – passed away on February 10, 2023, after a brief illness. Our much-adored mother, 85, was the beloved “Mimi” of a huge extended family consisting of six children, six sons- and daughters-in-law, 12 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Barbara was born the fourth of five children to Tommy E. and Clyde L. Cobb in Andalusia, Alabama. She and her siblings remained a tight-knit family their entire lives. Mom met, fell in love with, and married Leslie N. Ferguson in 1957. Together they raised a large and very happy family of six children. Through good times and hard times, Les and Barbara were happily married until Dad’s death in 1979 from a heart attack. Mom then went to work as a bank teller and raised the family on her own until she met Melvin Smith in 1984. She and Melvin fell deeply in love and were married in 1985. “Mimi and Pawpaw” were happily and joyfully married until Melvin’s death in 2002 from a stroke. Facing the prospect of widowhood again, Mom approached life as she always did: she picked herself up and got on with it. Good things, though, happen to good people, and in 2003 Barbara was introduced to William H. “Pete” Wilson. Mom and “Mr. Pete” became inseparable and decided to spend the rest of their lives together. They were married in 2004 and spent the next 10 years enjoying life together until Mr. Pete’s passing in 2014 from leukemia. As we like to say in our family, most people are lucky if they find one person to love in life. Mom loved and was loved deeply by our dad, by Melvin, and by Mr. Pete. Mom was preceded in death by her parents and by her husbands; by her eldest son, Leslie N. Ferguson, II; by her brother Bobby and her two sisters, Betty and June. She is survived by her brother Jimmy Cobb and his wife, Madge, of Andalusia, AL; her sister-in-law Teena Cobb of Tallahassee, FL; sister-in-law Betty Chism of Hobbs, NM; by her children and their spouses (Michelle Stewart and her husband, Greg; Pam Brantley and her husband, Tim; Mellissa McCreary and husband, Charles; Tommie Whitten and husband, Wayne; Michael Ferguson; and Kelly Ferguson and his wife, Jennifer), her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren; a host of nieces and nephews; and, of course, her beloved dog, Benji. A celebration of life will be held in the chapel of Rader Funeral Home in Longview on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 10a followed by a graveside service at Rosewood Park Cemetery. Our family would like to express our profound thanks to the staff of both Heartsway Hospice of Northeast Texas and Summer Meadows for their compassionate, gentle kindness to mom over the last two months. In lieu of flowers, friends and family are asked to consider making a donation in mom’s memory to either the Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center or the Trinity School of Texas.

Barbara Cobb Wilson

May 17, 1937 - February 10, 2023