Barbara Butler Turcotte, the epitome of piety, poise and grace, embodied genuine beauty by pursuing life with unwavering faith, tenacity, and her signature impeccable standards that were always coupled with love and kindness.

Barbara Sue was born March 12, 1932, to Newton N. (Cy) and Marynell Mitchell Butler in Corpus Christi, Texas. Weighing only four pounds at birth and later suffering from childhood malaria, Barbara began building her strength and resolve that carried her through life to the age of 94.

With food rationing and repeated loss of family income, life during the Great Depression was hard for the Butler family. Employment opportunities brought them to Ingleside, Gregory and Portland, Texas, where Barbara found joy in the company of her younger sister, Patti, and her lifelong friend, Elinor Florence Arthur, along with many new friends along the way.

Around age nine, Barbara began formally studying the Catholic faith and received the sacraments of Baptism, Penance and Holy Communion at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Aransas Pass. Through this experience and the loving grace of God, Barbara had a highly developed sense of piety and religious knowledge that she fostered, taught and relied on all her life. As an adult, this devotion culminated with Barbara attending daily Mass (even in torrential rainfall) and reciting the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day without fail. For many years, she reviewed newspaper obituaries, cut out and saved those she knew and prayed for all the people and their families that were listed.

At the age of 13, Barbara and her family moved to Kingsville where she later graduated from King High School. Barbara then attended Texas A&I University, where she joined Chi Omega Sorority, worked in the college library and received a degree in Industrial Arts in 1953. Barbara was a great source of Butler family pride, as she was the first in her family to graduate from college.

During her time in Kingsville, Barbara met her future husband, Jack Turcotte, a member of the Kenedy Ranch Family and her favorite Aggie. Barbara and Jack were married on June 17, 1953, at St. Gertrude Catholic Church on King Street with a reception in the newly built St. Gertrude Hall on Caesar Street. They moved to Sarita and built their life and family there over the decades devoted to ranching and public service. Upon her arrival in Sarita, she became a devout member of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.

Barbara was the ultimate loving mother to her six children, always taking into consideration their many differences and needs, from making individual breakfasts or sewing elaborate clothes for them to seeing to it they got what they needed and then some. Barbara’s weekly tradition after Sunday Mass was serving a home-cooked meal on fine china with crystal glasses and genuine silverware, originally with her immediate family and later with the addition of her beloved grandchildren and parish priests – every Sunday her home and heart were full.

A talented artist with a keen eye for beautiful design, Barbara co-designed a custom mid-century masterpiece of a family home, painted numerous oil and watercolor paintings, and dressed impeccably with fashionable clothes, jewelry and coordinating accessories. When she arrived at any gathering large or small, her attention-to-detail conveyed she took great care to show how important your special event was to her – her hair, nails and radiant smile all an outward expression of love and example of humility, despite being objectively beautiful. Anyone who knew Barbara knew that her real beauty was on the inside.

As a member of the Woman’s Club of Kingsville, Barbara received a certificate of dedication and continuous service for 70 years in December 2023, and held an honorary membership until her passing. First a member of the NOW Department for decades, she worked on committee meetings and attended the business meetings always dressed to the nines as were the times. Later, at the disbanding of the NOW department, she joined the Community Service Department.

Barbara was very proud of her South Texas community. At the age of 47, Barbara began working in the Kenedy County Clerk’s office in Sarita, Texas. Soon after, she was elected Kenedy County and District Clerk, a position she held until she retired in 2003 at the age of 70.

Barbara, known as “Mammaw” to her grandchildren and great grandchildren, was a glowing, unbounded source of love who always remembered family member birthdays and kept a running list of who was born when to make sure she never missed an opportunity to generously gift them something special. Mammaw loved being part of the action at family gatherings from filling the Easter Bunny piñata to trying to figure out who was under their Halloween costumes to joyfully gifting at Christmas and birthdays, signing “All my love, Mammaw” on more cards than anyone can count. She enjoyed watching Aggie football and would always advocate for dessert, much to the joy of her great grandkids, who can’t eat ice-cream without thinking of their sweet Mammaw.

Barbara is preceded in death by her beloved husband, John W. (Jack) Turcotte; her daughter, Michelle Turcotte Rivers; her grandson-in-law, Michael Mayberry; her grandson, Coleman Burris, and her son-in-law Bob Fisher. She leaves behind her children Therese (Vern) Crocker; John Gregory (Carry) Turcotte; Renee Turcotte; Erin Fisher and Kristin Turcotte. Additionally, she leaves behind her sister, Patti (Bucky) Clark; her lifelong friend, Elinor Arthur; sons-in-law Rodney Haggerton, Travis Burris and Scott Jones; grandchildren Camille Mayberry (Jack, Ian, Ava, Evan, Liam, Zoe, Quinn); Megan (TJ) Unterbrink (Elena, Beckett, Ayres, Skyler); Ashton (Carla) Crocker; Seth Crocker; Alysha Haggerton; Blaine Haggerton (Sierra, Sean Michael); Chloe Turcotte; Cameron (Victoria) Kearby (Quinten, Veronica); Colin (Stark) Kearby; Connor Kearby; Foster Burris; Logan Jones; Trent Jones; her cousins Monette Butler (Terry) Littlepage and Deborah Butler (David) McBride and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Sarita, Texas.

Visitation is 5-8pm on Friday, May 8, 2026, with the Rosary at 7pm.

Funeral Mass will be at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Saturday, May 9, 2026. Visitation will begin at 9am before the 10am Mass.

Interment will follow at Chamberlain Cemetery in Kingsville.

To pay tribute to Barbara’s Catholic faith that was at the core of who she was and how she lived her life, please consider having Masses said in her honor or even privately opening your heart to her Blessed Savior Jesus Christ, because if you are reading this, Barbara is praying for you.