Rachel Estella Barnes Thornton, 97, passed away Friday, Oct. 25, 2013, at Rose Manor in Haleyville.
Mrs. Thornton was a lifelong resident of Franklin County and a member of Russellville First Baptist Church. She was the oldest of ten children.
The funeral service will be Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, at 11 a.m. at Pinkard Funeral Home Chapel, Russellville, with burial in Tharptown Cemetery. Officiating will be Clinton Busler, Randy Nichols and Stratton Barnes. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday from 10 a.m. until
11 a.m.
She is survived by her children, Annette Sturdivant (Billy), Brenda Oliver (Troy) and Kathy Gray (Steve); daughter-in-law, Sandra Thornton; brother, Stratt Barnes; 11 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Mary Willie Thornton Hester (Clanton), Kathy Barnes and Bernice Barnes; brother-in-law, Cecil Thornton; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers will be grandsons and relatives.
She was preceded in death by parents, John Howard and Laura Malone Barnes; husband, Hubert John Thornton; children, Paul Hugh Thornton and Bobby Jo Thornton; brothers and sisters, Zollie Barnes, Arland Jo Barnes, Retha Barnes Weems, Marie Barnes Porter, Jack Barnes, Wayne Lee Barnes, Bennie Barnes and Patsy Barnes.
