Lena B. (Reeves) Barnes

Mrs. Lena B. (Reeves) Barnes, 67, of Elkhart, passed away peacefully at her home following an extended but courageous battle with cancer on Friday, February 26, 2021 at 7:45 pm. She was born in Hopkinsville, KY on October 25, 1953 to the late Douglas D. and Magdalene (Moss) Reeves. Although she was with him a total of 45 wonderful years, she married Kenneth “Kenny” Barnes in Elkhart on February 17, 2006 and he survives at home.

She is also survived by her children Rhonda Reeves of Elkhart, Gamaliel (Joanna) Reeves of Elkhart, Cynthia Reeves of Mishawaka, Kenneth A. Barnes of Elkhart and Latonya Barnes of Elkhart; her step-son Malik Barnes of Elkhart; brothers James M. (Tonya) Reeves of Elkhart, Dixie I. (Mary) Reeves of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Michael W. (Melvida) Reeves of Hopkinsville and Thomas R. Reeves from Louisville; sisters Anna Bell Radford of Hopkinsville and Jenny B. (Tony) Chandler of Louisville; 19 grandchildren and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and good friends. Brothers Charles, Maxie and Robert Reeves precede Lena in death, as well as a sister, Carrie May Croney.

Billings Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Elkhart is honored to host Lena’s Celebration of Life services on Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 12:00 noon, with visitation beginning there at 11 am. Pastor Jeremy Sarber, Chaplain at Billings, will officiate the service and, in accordance with her wishes, cremation is to take place following the service.

If asked, Lena would have said that raising her children was her greatest success story, with the second greatest success being her completion of her associate degree from Ivy Tech. Lena loved working with children and went on to teach for the Hansel Headstart program and for the Elkhart-St. Joseph Consortium. Later, she moved on to Goshen General Hospital where she served in the housekeeping department there for almost 20 years.

Even though she was more or less a homebody, Lena loved helping and caring for others as well as having her children and family near-by as much as possible. Born and raised into the Baptist church, she became a devout Christian lady who enjoyed reading her bible and studying the Word, finding much strength and respite in the 23rd Psalm.  She was also an avid science-fiction fan and loved to listen to the old Blues and R&B classics from the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and such.

Memorial donations made in Lena’s memory may be given to the Elkhart Tolson Center.

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