Harriet Elizabeth Barfield

Mrs. Harriet Elizabeth Hanson Barfield, age 87, passed away Wednesday afternoon, December 18th, at her daughter’s home in Rossville, GA. A celebration of life will be held at Way-Watson Funeral Home on Monday, December 30, 2024 at 11:00AM with Pastor Martin Dillon and Rev. Hugh Harbort officiating.  The family will greet friends beginning at 10:00AM until service time. Private burial will be in Andersonville National Cemetery.

Harriet was born in Pinckneyville, IL on March 27, 1937, to parents Max E. Hanson and Evelyn Carty Hanson, the third of four children. Nicknamed “Lisbe” to avoid confusion with the Aunt Harriet for whom she was named, her parents also called her “Our Gerber Baby” due to her early resemblance to the famous infant.

She graduated from the Michael Reese Hospital School of Nursing in Chicago in 1957. She would proudly serve as a Registered Nurse for most of her adult life. After moving to Georgia in the early 1960s, she worked briefly as charge nurse at the Americus-Sumter County Hospital before accepting a position at the Schley County Health Department. While in this role she was chosen to be one of a small group of community health nurses to become the first Nurse Practitioners in Georgia. For more than 30 years, “Ms. Harriet” cared for her community, bandaging their wounds, diagnosing illnesses, administering medications, and even closing their eyes in death. Her own hardships, including being widowed twice before age 40, never affected Harriet’s soothing demeanor with those who were in need. Her capacity for caring transcended racial, ethnic, gender, and generational boundaries.

Harriet was an active member of her church, making her famous broccoli salad and homemade cheesecake for many potluck dinners and social events. She knitted and crocheted hats to give away on several mission trips to Alaska. She was a devoted mother to her children and her fur-babies, as well as a loving grandmother and great-grandmother. Her legacy is one of service, dignity, and compassion.

Harriet is survived by her children, Andy Flemmons (Glenys), Paul Barfield, Tony Spears (Michelle), Michelle Spears-Sevy (Mike), Barrie Norton, and Barbara Perry (Mac); her brother, Max, and sisters Linda and Mary. She is also survived by her grandchildren Tammi Payton, Kim Storey, John Barfield, Kim Cullifer, Laney Breck, Bobby Hockenberry, Wes Hargrove, Daniel Spears, Terelle Langley, Christopher Spears, Joshua Spears, Brittany Spears, Scott Pragoff, Hanson Sevy, Katherine Sevy, Lydia Sevy, Nathan Norton, Olivia Perry, and Will Perry, in addition to many great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, daughter Debra Hockenberry, son-in-law Jack Norton, and husbands Bobby Joe Spears, Guy Flemmons, Jr., and Auburn Barfield.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Dementia Society of America, the Deep South Canine Shelter located in Ellaville, GA, or the Sumter Humane Society.