Barbara Ann Chatman

Barbara Ann Chatman, 80, of Abilene, passed away Saturday, January 26, 2019. 

Funeral services will be at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road.  Rev. Stan Allcorn will officiate.  Burial will follow in Elmwood Memorial Park.  The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 pm on Monday at the funeral home.

Barbara was born August 15, 1938 in Harlingen, Texas to John W. Beckett, Jr. and Rachel Winona (Booth) Beckett.  She married Jimmie Thomas “Jim” Chatman on December 1, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas.  In 1966, the couple moved from Lubbock to Abilene where they raised their family. Barbara was very active in the lives of her children, serving as Den Mother for the Boy Scouts and Troup Leader for the Girl Scouts.

She was Senior Vice President of the Abilene Teacher’s Federal Credit Union for 25 plus years, retiring in 2004.  Barbara was a member of Grace Lutheran Church  where she sang in the choir and was a member of the Alter Guild.  She was an avid gardener and a talented seamstress.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, John and Rachel Beckett, her husband, Jim Chatman and her brother, John Charles Beckett. 

She is survived by her daughter, Melanie Heslep and husband Gary of Abilene; two sons, Mark Chatman of Poplar Bluff, Missouri and John Clifton Chatman and wife Diane of Pendleton, Kentucky; one brother, David Clifton Beckett of Trinity; two sisters, Betty Jean Ricketts of Bedford and Nancy Sue Attaway of Crowley; three grandchildren, Jeffrey Heslep and wife Jaimie of Round Rock, Ryan Heslep and wife Heidi of Abilene, and Alex Chatman of Pendleton, Kentucky; as well as three great-grandsons, Harris, Ethan and Holt Heslep.  She is also survived numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made in Barbara’s honor to the Alzheimer’s Association, 301 South Pioneer Drive, Suite 105, Abilene, Texas 79605 or to the donor’s favorite charity.