Doris Ileen Latham (Tulia)

Tulia, Texas- Doris Ileen Latham, 86, died Saturday, March 11, 2017 in Tulia, Texas. Funeral services will be held at 1pm Monday, March 13, 2017 at the First Baptist Church in Tulia. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors. A visitation was held from 5-7pm on Sunday, March 12, 2017. Doris was born on January 12, 1931 in Hamilton, Texas to Lester and Minnie Smith. Doris grew up in a loving home with six sisters with lots of laughter and happy tears at the Smith family farm. The sisters were best of friends. Doris played basketball when she was in high school and had a life long love of the game. She was known to watch any basketball game on TV, especially if “her Spurs” and “my man Tim Duncan” were playing. Even when she could no longer watch the games because of her failing eyesight she loved to hear the play-by-play and scoring recaps. In fact, on Thursday night before she died she was asking her grandchildren for updates on the Baylor basketball game. At age 18, she met her husband Barnie. He had asked her out on several dates and her father wouldn’t give him permission so he almost gave up. But, he asked her “one last time” and that began a love affair that would last a lifetime. They were married in Vigo Park for 61 years until Barnie’s death in 2013. Their first home consisted of two rooms and two paths, one to the well and one to the outhouse. They were active members of The Vigo Park Baptist Church. They had a role model marriage and Doris was the perfect example of the Proverbs 31 woman. They moved to Tulia in 1971 and became involved with the youth program at the First Baptist Church. Doris taught Sunday School and soon began to host a Sunday night event at her home known by teens in Tulia as “Cokes and Jokes.” Barnie provided the “jokes” and Doris provided the “cokes”. She was known to whip up a complete spaghetti dinner in a matter of minutes. It is estimated that she prepared over 20,000 meals at her home for teenagers in Tulia. Doris was quite the matchmaker and was a “mom” to most girl teens in Tulia. There are numerous marriages that can be directly linked to her influence, including Doris telling her daughter-in-Law that her “son was shy so she needed to rub up against him.” Doris and Barnie moved to Tulia Health and Rehabilitation in 2008 as Barnie’s health began to decline. They lived there together until Barnie’s death in 2013. Doris is preceded in death by parents, Lester and Minnie Smith and her sisters Willie Frances Edwards, Marie Porterfield Smith, Pearl Lewis, and Patsy Beasley. She is survived by her biological son, Van (Lynn) and her grandchildren Jordan (Jonathan) Campbell, Emma Latham, and Drew Latham and her sisters Cleo Hill and Hattie Jo (Linnie) Angerstein and her adopted family of Scott and Zane Burrow and their children Scotty (Jenny) Burrow, J.B. (Megan) Burrow, Blake Burrow, K.B. (Ashley) Burrow, Kevin and Robin Nelson and their children Jonathan Nelson, Nick (Samantha) Nelson, Shelbi (Will) Thompson, and David and Debbie Barnes and their family Jonathan (Leigha) Barnes, Will (Ragan), Dr. Lauren Barnes, and Kaitlyn (Andrew) Moritz and numerous great grandchildren in love. She was loved by all and will be greatly missed, but we all rejoice that she is in Heaven with her Savior and her “honey-bunny” Barnie. Memorials may be made to the Latham Scholarship Fund, First Baptist Church, 101 N. Crosby, Tulia, Texas 79088. Online condolences may be made at www.kornerstonefunerals.com.