Nadine Barkett

is honored with a Brick from H.D. Barkett, Tammy Demetree, and Robin Moore.

After thirty years the pictures are a little faded, but the radiance of her smile and the warmth of her love cannot be diminished.

There are constant reminders of mother all around us. The laughter of our children rings with the same joy and love of life that was inherent in her soul. The smell of the air after a spring rain, the warmth of family gathered together, the gentle nature of the very old and the innocence of the very young, these things were the essence of Nadine.

It would be incomplete to say that what mother left us were the tangible things of life, the genetics of blue eyes and blond hair or brown eyes and olive skin. What we inherited from her is so much more important than that. The knowledge that there is a right and a wrong and the faith and confidence to now which is which. The understanding that to earn respect you must give respect. That truth is what we are always to aspire to. That family is the backbone and faith in God. These are the jewels which we inherited. When all is said and done, the most precious of these gifts is the ever comforting and unwavering certainty that we are loved. What greater gift could she have given us?

Faced with the challenges of raising our own families in a world that seems a bit more complicated, we struggle to stand tall, and to fall, and to stand tall again. We can, however, be certain that the seeds planted by Howard and Nadine will continue to grow in their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren... That the world will be a better place for her and not the same without her.

You painted no Madonnas
on chapel walls in Rome,
but with the touch of a diviner
you lived them in your home!

You wrote no lofty poems
that critics counted art,
but with nobler vision
you lived them in your heart!

You carved no shapeless marble
to some ethereal design,
but with a finer sculptor
He shaped your soul divine!

You built no great cathedrals
that centuries applaud,
but with a grace exquisite
your life cathedraled God!

This poem was read at the funeral of our mother on January 10, 1969. Nadine Rahill Barkett was born on May 5, 1929 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to George and Ramsey Rahill. She was the youngest of six children, she has one brother and four sisters. She was married to Howard M. Barkett on September 30, 1951. They had one son and two daughters, H.D., Robin and Tammy.

In 1963, the family moved from Dallas, Texas to Wichita. In 1967, Howard and Nadine worked side by side and opened the first of three restaurants, the Wrangler Sirloin Pit. The opening of that business was Howard and Nadine's dream to make a better life for their children.

The poem epitomizes the life of Nadine. Her beauty and grace were evident both inside and out. In Nadine's short time she touched the lives of everyone who knew her. She died at the age of 39 of cancer. At the time of her death, her children were 16, 13, and 10. It is the life of our mother not her death that has shaped our lives. There is not a day that goes by that we do not wonder what our lives would be like if she were still with us, but we thank God for the time we had.

Submitted by Robin Moore

September 11, 1998