Barbara Ann Roberts

Memorial service for former Gallup resident, Barbara Ann Bointy Roberts, of Carlsbad NM will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 11, at Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home Chapel, Lawton, OK. A laying to rest of her ashes will follow at Sunset Memorial Gardens Mausoleum.

Barbara Ann Bointy Roberts of Carlsbad N.M. passed away at home on August 5th 2025 with her daughter Stephanie by her side.

Barbara was born February 26, 1931 in Lawton Oklahoma to Bessie Meakah and George Bointy of Fletcher OK. Being raised in the heartland of America, she would spend many a hot summer at the age of 5 helping with the tedious chore of picking cotton, which was her least favorite thing to do. With sweat streaming down her cheeks and with a 5yr olds defiance, would suddenly stop, look to the clouds and dream. It would take her mother to snap her out of her upward gaze and get her back to the arduous chore of picking that cotton. For Barbara feeding the farm animals and helping with other chores wasn’t so bad. Anything but the cotton. Those were the typical days of the Great Depression. Food and necessities were not available in great quantities and coming from a family of 10, eight siblings, mom and dad, well let’s just say there weren’t a lot of things to go around most of the time. Barbara, affectionately known as Bobbie Ann and her family would persevere. Vigilant to the task of hard work, dedicated parents and a little girl who loved to dream. Barbara’s determination, courage and strength of character would be there always through to the end of her life. Graduating from Lawton high school in 1949, Barbara would pursue higher education and was the first in her family to graduate with a BA in Home economics in 1953 from OCW then known as Oklahoma College for Women and is now the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO). Her journey right after college would lead her to her first employment to Pine Ridge S.D. then onto Belcourt N.D for the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation where she served as a Home Economics teacher and food service manager.

In 1971 Barbara was offered a position with The Bureau of Indian Affairs in Gallup NM as an Education Food Specialist for the boarding schools on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Her work would take her many miles onto reservation land to oversee the operations, regulations, policies, guidelines and to implement changes for Improvements for all school food service programs for Navajo children. She enjoyed her work immensely. In 1982 her work would take her on special assignment to Washington D.C. where she enjoyed the subway, restaurants, outings and especially the zoo with her favorite, the pandas. Her career also brought her to Hawaii and New Orleans, both of which she enjoyed and longed to return to Hawaii. “They have some of the best coffee in the world” Barbara would say.

In 1983 Barbara would return to teaching for 4 more years. That would end her tenure of 37.5 years of government service with the Bureau of Indian Affairs with retirement in Sept. 1988. Barbara loved fashion, sewing and crafting, Indian jewelry, reading, classical music, crossword puzzles and photography of which she won awards for. She loved Gallup. She loved beautiful things. A woman of extraordinary kindness will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

Barbara is preceded in death by her parents Bessie Meakah and George Bointy, sisters Annette Bointy, Thelma Stumblingbear, Audrey Carter, Marilyn Mae Spottedhorse, Buena Jean Jones, brothers Thomas Keahbone and Byron D. Bointy.

Barbara is survived by her daughter Stephanie Roberts, neices, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews.