Barbara Jean (Ellison) Eakman

Barbara Jean (Ellison) Eakman
October 10th, 1944 – July 16th, 2022

Barbara Jean (Ellison) Eakman, age 77, left us on July 16, 2022, after a brief illness with pancreatic cancer. She was comforted by her friends and family at home in Colleyville, Texas these past few months.

Barbara was born in Denton and raised in Denison, Texas with her loving parents, Ted and Faye Ellison. She graduated from Denison high school and Texas Christian University where she was part of the Delta Gamma sorority. She went on to serve in the USO, leading the officers club at the Nakhon Phanom Royal Thair Air Force Base, allowing her to experience new cultures and explore new horizons. She established her career as an educator in Dallas before focusing her time on raising two sons with her husband, Glen Evetts (“Ebb”) Eakman. They had a wonderful love for two decades before Ebb passed away at a young age. She was especially close with her younger child, Jonathan Eakman, who preceded her in death three years earlier. We are comforted she will now spend more time with the husband and son that she lost too early in life.

Barbara will be missed every day by her eldest son, Lindel Eakman, and his family who knew her as “Nana”. She is also survived by her brother, Tom Ellison, his family, a loving extended family, and a large set of long-time friends that supported and celebrated her through good times and hard spots. We are grateful for those friends that she considered an extended family.

Barbara knew that she had lived a full and good life. She reflected on a successful marriage and raising a great family. She also found love afterward. She counted herself lucky to have had meaningful relationships across her life. She was so very disappointed not to have more time with her companion, Steve Otis, with whom she shared a wonderful bond in these last years.

She was loved by many for her authenticity, with a candor that lacked criticism and a comfort in her own identity. She preferred “small-town people” and appreciated those values. Barbara was a spiritual believer, raising her children in the Methodist church. She enjoyed TCU Football and a special set of friends that came together to support the Horned Frogs over many decades. She was a gardener throughout her life, sharing a green thumb with her father and aunt, Juanita Williams. She loved the “good dirt” in the yard and memories made with her family at her lake house on Lake Texoma.

Graveside services will be held for Barbara on Saturday, July 23rd, at 10AM in the Garden of Rest at Bluebonnet Hills Cemetery located at 5725 Colleyville Blvd, Colleyville, Texas, 76034. Please join the family for a reception and lunch following the ceremony at Del Frisco’s Grille in Southlake located at 1200 E Southlake Blvd, Southlake, Texas 76092. For those that may be heat sensitive, we encourage you to join us for the reception at ~ 11AM.

In lieu of flowers, those who so desire may make memorial donations in memory of Barbara to Texas Christian University. The family would appreciate and cherish any stories, memories, or photos you could share to BarbaraEakman@gmail.com.