Mrs. Barbara Gean Riker Obituary (1939 - 2017)

Barbara Gean Riker, lover of all things turquoise in color, passed away peacefully Tuesday, September 12, 2017, at Arkansas Hospice River Valley Home in Russellville. She was the oldest of nine children born to Paul and Ona Saleene Foster Stinnett on August 23, 1939, in London, Arkansas. She married her true soulmate, David Lee Riker, August 30, 1956, after he proposed to her in her yearbook her junior year in high school. The following year, she graduated from Glendale High school in Glendale, Arizona. Barbara and David raised four children to adulthood and fostered and cared for a multitude of others through her lifetime. She was a member of First Freewill Baptist Church in Dardanelle. She taught Sunday School at several churches as she served alongside David as he pastored churches in Arkansas. She was a homemaker and a freelancer in occasional careers. She was a very talented floral designer and owned her own antique and floral design shop in Dardanelle called Earthly Delights. Barbara's greatest adventure came in 1989 when she and David were employed on a civilian contract at McMurdo Station on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. During that time, she was the oldest woman at McMurdo Station, a feat she loved to tell you about. Her job titles ranged from postman, to data entry, to sea ice shuttle operator, to the only woman on a sixty man construction crew. She was known as "Mom" literally to the ends of the earth! In later years, her health kept her home a lot, but she found ways to occupy her time including becoming the "Queen of Pinterest". To date, her Pinterest boards have 190, 546 pins and 2,199 followers! If you want to know what she enjoyed, look at her Pinterest boards! Barbara was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Herschel "Buddy" Stinnett, Jerry Stinnett and a sister Linda Falbo. Barbara is survived by her husband, David Lee Riker, of Dardanelle; three daughters, Rhonda Knapp (Ron), of Connecticut; Davelle Gilliland (Rich), of Tempe, AZ; Karla Hall (Mike), of Conway; a son, John Riker (Rhonda) of Dardanelle; Seven grandchildren, Adam Halliburton, Philip Halliburton, Madison Knapp, Jake Knapp, Taylor Castleberry (Zach), Layne Ball (Casey), and Rani Gwin; two great granddaughters, Spencer and Cameron Castleberry; four sisters, Joyce Falbo, Patsy Rhoton, Leda Rogge(Dick), Susan Beckman; and a brother Bob Stinnett(Jana). Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 AM, Saturday, September 16, 2017 at First Free Will Baptist Church in Dardanelle with visitation an hour prior to service time. Bro. Jared Higginbotham will officiate. Burial will be at Ard Cemetery in Dardanelle by Humphrey Funeral Service. Memorials may be made to Arkansas Hospice River Valley Home,220 John Babish Lane, Russellville, AR 72801 or www.arkansashospice.org/foundation/donate/donatenow.aspx. Internet obituary and online guest book are available at www.humphreyfuneral.com.