Alfred and Mary Lou Mayes welcomed their sixth child and second daughter, Barbara Ann Mayes, into the family on Friday, April 18, 1941, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Surrounded by her older siblings – Dave, Clifford, Richard, Louise, and John Robert – Barbara was the baby girl of the family and was protected, loved, spoiled, and doted on. With the later arrivals of Alfred Jr., George, Andrew, Johnette, and Jeanette, Barbara became both the middle child and the middle daughter among the eleven Mayes children. Although she shared close relationships with all her siblings. She had a special bond with her brother John Robert and her younger sister Jeanette.
No stranger to hard work, Barbara helped in the family garden, chopped cotton, harvested vegetables and washed, ironed, and mended clothes. When she was not working or attending church, she enjoyed playing baseball with a small Pet Milk can as the ball and a stick as the bat.
Though times were sometimes difficult, the Mayes family lived by the words of Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth”.
During Jim Crow, the church was the epicenter of the Black community. It provided a safe place to hear the Word, worship, and pray. It also stood at the heart of education, civil rights, social activism, artistic expression, and entertainment, offering respite from racial oppression.
Their faith was evident throughout the family: five of Barbara’s eight brothers became ministers, while the other three served or are serving as deacons.
Barbara’s belief in God was modeled and nurtured early in her life. In 1949, Pastor Timothy Vinson Sr. of Mount Olivia Missionary Baptist Church baptized her in Nape Pond. Although she relocated to Denver, Colorado, in 1960, she was never without a church home. In Alabama, she attended Mount Olivia Missionary Baptist Church. In Colorado, she worshiped at East Denver Church of Christ under Bro. Leroy Duley, Park East Church of Christ under Bro. H.R. Stevens, and the Church of Christ at Forest Street under Bro. Keith Penny. She also served on several benevolence committees, quietly providing services and gilts to unsuspecting recipients.
Barbara was educated in Colbert County, Alabama. She attended Mount Olivia Elementary School and graduated from Leighton Training School in 1960, where she was a majorette. After moving to Denver that same year, she attended trade school and earned her cosmetology license.
In 1961, Barbara and Connie Lee Cobb joined in holy matrimony. Together, they raised three sons Roger Darrel, Michael Byron, and Craig Lyonal. Barbara was a loyal, devoted, and nurturing mother who made sure her sons were sharply dressed, wore fresh haircuts, respected their elders, and understood the value of hard work.
When Afros became fashionable, Roger, Michael, and Craig knew their behavior determined how long their hair was allowed to grow. Whenever one of them got into trouble, the punishment was a close-shaven haircut, which Michael humorously described as the “Cavatiuds.” In actuality the Cavatius would have left them with more hair. “Hair today, gone tomorrow.
Always a dedicated worker, Barbara spent 25 years with the Samsonite Luggage Company. Her diligence earned her a promotion from producing suitcase shells to inspecting finished luggage. During the long grueling hours on the production line, she met her lifelong friend, Gloria Brothers.
Gloria remembered how she and Barbara would dress “to the nines” and go dancing. Barbara – or “Babbs”, as her sister Jeanette called her – loved music and could truly cut a rug.
The Scoreboard and the Elks were among their favorite nightclubs, where they danced to songs such as Denise Lasalles “The Blues Is Alright,” Z.Z. Hill’s “Down Home Blues,” and “Someone Else Is Steppin’ In.” Her other favorite artists included Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, and Johnnie Taylor.
Rumor had it that, while living in Alabama, Barbara dated Percy Sledge, the singer of “When a Man Loves a Woman, who was from the same area. It was a story she neither confirmed nor denied.
After retiring from Samsonite, Barbara continued to work and serve others. She worked as a cook at an early learning center, served as a bus aide for Cherry Creek schools, worked as a product demonstrator, and eventually retired once more from King Soopers. Barbara loved to do hair. She never stopped. Even while working at her other jobs, she rented booths and/or chairs in salons and department stores. She still had customers up until a month before she got sick.
A true fashionista, Barbara, could dress beautifully and wear a hat like nobody’s business. She was often named among the 50 best-dressed women in metropolitan Denver. Even at 85, she wore designer garments, timeless hats, and stiletto heels with confidence. Her nieces Terri and Sherri loved shopping in her closet. Barbara took great pride in her appearance, her sons, and, above all, her relationship with God.
Barbara never fully recovered from the untimely death of her youngest son, Craig, in 2003. In time, she reluctantly found acceptance, saying, “God had loaned him to me, and guess He wanted him back”. When her youngest grandson Reese or Buddy as she called him was killed in an unprovoked act of street violence at the age of 18, she was left speechless, she had no words. Yet, her faith was un-wavering.
She poured her deep grief and loss into loving on others, she gave all she had to give. She prayed, gave fashion advice, gossiped and prepared meals for those in need.
And talk about somebody who could cook! Barbara could! Whether she was making banana pudding, smothered turkey, greens, macaroni and cheese, or her unforgettable rum cake, her food was prepared with love. That rum cake was so saturated with rum that you had to be grown to get a piece. She enjoyed cooking for holidays and family gatherings so much that she sometimes began shopping, cooking, and freezing food weeks in advance.
In her younger years, Barbara enjoyed bowling, playing the slot machines in Black Hawk, and shopping- always shopping.
Among her favorite sayings were:
“What can you say? What can you do?”
“You know what to say.”
“Oh, well.”
As she grew older, she added one that captured what mattered most to her: Family is all we got.”
Barbara leaves a legacy of faith, family, resilience, generosity, hard work, style, laughter, and love.
Those left to cherish her memory and reflect on the lessons she shared include her sons, Roger and Michael Cobb of Denver, Colorado; her grandchildren, Jordan Cobb of Aurora, Brandon (Christal) Cobb of Aurora, Brendon Dudley Cobb of Denver, Tyler (Malcolm) Jones of Loveland, Colorado, and LaShaun (Matthew) Best of Denver; and her great-grandchildren, Emberlee, Ezekiel, Luna Pearl, and Halle Dream Jones.
She is also survived by her brothers, Alfred Mayes Jr. of Memphis, Tennessee, George (Marcie) Mayes of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, John Robert Mayes of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Richard Mayes of Norfolk, Virginia; her sister, Jeanette Mayes Parker of Muscle Shoals, Alabama; and her sisters-in-law, Ann, Mildred, Dorothy, and Marcie Mayes of Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Those who preceded her in death and were there to greet her at heaven’s gates include her parents, Alfred and Mary Lou Mayes; her son, Craig Lyonal Cobb; her grandson, Reese Deveraux Grant- Cobb; her sister, Sylvia Louise Hurt; and her brothers, Dave, Clifford, Andrew, and Johnette.
Barbara’s memory will also be cherished by her 36 nieces and nephews, countless great-nieces and great-nephews, her church family, and a host of cousins, friends, and acquaintances.
Her life was a testimony to enduring faith, devoted family, joyful service, and impeccable style. Though she will be deeply missed, the love she gave and the lessons she taught will continue to live in every life she touched.
