6/12/1937- 11/07/2026
Barbara passed peacefully to her final Heavenly Home on Saturday morning at home with her daughters by her side.
She is preceded in death by her parents Argrow H. Lloyd and Sallie Bass Lloyd, her sister Joyce Lloyd Ray, brother-in-law David D. Ray, Sr., Son Cameron Lloyd Tew, niece Joy Ray James, and great nephew David Heath James.
She is survived by daughters Tracy Tew Carver and Allison Gaye Tew of the home, grandchildren: Kendra Tew Halacheff(Jimmy) of Gibsonville, NC Seth T. Carver(Megan) of Efland, NC, Jackson Lloyd Carver(Jasmine) of Belgrade, MT, great grandchildren; Lyric, Willow, Harker, River, and Hazel Halacheff, Paxton Travis and Tate Carver, Josiah, Jonah, and Josie Carver.
Barbara was from Haw River, NC. She received her Teaching Certificate from ECU, a Master’s Degree from UNC-G and worked on her Doctorate Degree at Duke University. She served as an Educator in NC Public Schools for over 30 years as a teacher and principal. She taught in several Alamance County schools and served as a principal at B. Everette Jordan Elementary and North Graham Elementary. She served as principal at Marvin B. Smith Elementary in Burlington City Schools until her retirement. After retirement, she was a contractor for IBM. She taught school’s systems across the country how to implement IBM’s “Writing to Read” program that had been a pilot program at Marvin B. Smith Elementary under her leadership. Barbara was involved in the early development of Title IX and was an avid supporter of Cultural Arts.
Mom/Granny was the most sincere and intentional Person I’ve ever known. If you were on her mind then you knew it and could feel it. The time that she spent with people was so purposeful and it was as if only the two of you were in the whole world. This sometimes entailed mad money and a new identity for the day like Matilda. We will have these precious memories to hold onto forever.
A beautiful woman with so many talents. If you’ve ever seen any of her paintings then you know the beauty she could create with a brush. She was quite handy with putting together a craft or special gift as well, especially for teachers.
Above all talents that she had, teaching stands above them all. God gave her a gift of teaching and she stewarded that gift so well. All she had to do was observe a child and how they moved about, spoke, and she could tell you how they would best learn. Oh, the heart that flowed so freely and deeply for teaching kids. This was a beautiful thing to witness.
I’d be mistaken not to mention her love for plants and growing things. This was something that she both shared with others and taught them to do it for themselves. What a gift.
She was a woman who I think saw the world in hues of blues and purples, her favorite colors because to her everything had meaning and was special . . . even the ugliest rock.
Precious memories how they’ll linger.
You will forever be our sunshine.
Your mind is healed and we rejoice in that.
All our love forever.
There will be a private gathering with her family.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Dementia Society of America in memory of Barbara L. Tew.
