FRANKLIN
Christine Ovie (Smith) Barnard of Franklin, Indiana, 79, passed away March 1, 2023, at her home.
Christine, a sweetheart, wife, mother, grandmother, and life’s companion, was born at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 2, 1944. Ovie Christine Smith, the second daughter of Forby and Esther (Pruitt) Smith, accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at an early age and lived her life according to His principles and teachings.
Christine grew up on Arbor Avenue in the south-west section of Indianapolis known as ‘The Valley’ and attended PS 47 Elementary School. She was in the graduating class of 1961 at George Washington High School. Upon graduation, she worked at Pat Gohen as a mail dispatcher until her marriage in January 1962. In September 1962, James (now deceased) was born. Her first marriage ended in divorce in early 1964.
On September 12, 1964, she married Herman “Hal” Barnard at the Methodist Church on Division Street in ‘The Valley’. Thus began a period of traveling and living as a dedicated military wife. First at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina. Where a son, Darren, was born at the Base Hospital in July 1965.
She spent a harrowing month in 1966 at Charleston Naval Hospital, fighting for her life against a virulent and unusual form of Asian Smallpox. The Naval Doctor having seen this disease before, not only saved her life, but he also prevented large-scale pockmarks on her face and body. Doctor DeArsaval, a godsend, said she was a fighter, and that she was.
In 1967, she moved her family, two small boys, a dog and herself, to an Indianapolis apartment as her husband had already deployed on another one-year overseas assignment. Upon completion of that year, she moved her family back to Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina, where they lived on the air base.
In 1970, the family was on the move again, this time to Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. There they lived for a year in a mixed neighborhood of military and Hispanic families. James and Christine became quite fluent in TexMex.
One year later, it was off to Bergstrom AFB, Austin, Texas, where they bought a house on Kings Highway. Christine managed the family household through the many deployments of her husband averaging one 30-day deployment every four months. In 1975, her husband was sent on another one-year tour, and she again became head of household.
In 1976, Hal returned from overseas and retired from the Air Force. Hal began working with a computer company in Austin, Texas. After a year, he was transferred to the Indianapolis, Indiana office. Christine went ahead of the family and on her own picked out their current family residence in Franklin, Indiana.
From 1986 to 1998, Christine worked at Johnson Memorial Hospital as Volunteer Office Secretary.
Christine is survived by her husband of 58 years, Hal, their son Darren Barnard of Franklin, IN and granddaughters Sarah and Emily Barnard, her sister and brother-in-law John and Betty Marr of Greenwood, IN.
The Reverend Shan Rutherford will conduct a service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, at 10:30 AM at Swartz Family Community Mortuary and Memorial Center, 300 South U.S. 31 (Morton Street) in Franklin, IN and will be live-streamed at www.swartzmortuary.com. Friends may call Friday, March 3, 2023, from 4PM until 8PM at the mortuary. Burial will be at Greenlawn Cemetery in Franklin, IN.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.swartzmortuary.com. Information 317-738-0202
