Barbara Clay Secrest Wooten died on December 27th, 2006 in Austin, Texas. Visitation will be at Callaway Jones Funeral Home, 3001 South College Drive, Bryan, Texas, from 4:00 Ð 6:00 p.m., Friday, December 29th and the service will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 30th at A-M Methodist Church on University Drive in College Station, Texas.
Barbara was born to Robert Clay and Ivy Rugh Secrest in Richland Springs, Texas on March 8, 1922. Her family moved to Gatesville, and then Junction, Texas, where she went through elementary and high school. There she met Pat Wooten, whom she would later marry. Barbara had a very happy childhood in Junction surrounded by the love of her family. She described her mother, father and sister as ‘warm, loving, supporting angels.’ She was very close to her only sister, Rosemary and had several cousins, aunts and uncles living nearby. Barbara loved fishing, tennis, swimming and other outdoor activities. She was rather shy and developed a passion for reading, which would last her entire life.
After graduating from Junction High School Barbara attended Southwest Texas State Teachers College where she overcame her shyness and made many lifelong friends, played in the band and participated in a literary society. After graduating college, she was a secretary and then during World War II, attended the Air Force Procurement Inspector School in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where she finished number one in her class. With the skills learned there, Barbara helped with the war effort as an aircraft (P-51 Mustang) inspector.
Barbara married Pat Wooten in September of 1948 and remained happily married until his death. Barbara and Pat raised four sons. They enjoyed many trips together sharing their mutual love of fishing after their years raising children were successfully completed. They both loved going to Texas A-M sporting and cultural events and were supporters of Texas A-M University. Barbara was a lifelong devoted member of A-M Methodist Church. Her lifelong passion for reading and learning led her to volunteer as an adult literacy teacher in College Station. She also enjoyed traveling to different countries with her beloved sister, Rosemary.
Barbara is survived by all her sons and their wives; Thomas (Tad) and Bette Wooten, Tim and Angie Wooten, Terry Wooten and Amy Pianta, and Trevor Wooten. She would want to include her nieces who were just like daughters, Mary Martha Staff, and Sally Leonard. She is also survived by five grandchildren, April Wooten, Trey Wooten, Karen Wooten, Kennon Peterson, and Emma Wooten, and one great grandchild, Torey Jackson. She was preceded in death by her husband, Alvin B. (Pat) Wooten and sister Rosemary Secrest Stotler
Donations may be made to the Marbridge Foundation, POB 2250 Manchaca, TX 78652, or Hospice Austin – Christopher House, 2820 E. Martin Luther King Blvd 78702, or the Family Literacy Foundation, 3525 Del Mar Heights Rd #348, San Diego, CA 92130.
