Barbara Jeanette Florence Mosley Mitchell

Barbara Mitchell, 81 Christian Educator Lakeland - Barbara Jeannette Florence Mosley Mitchell was born on May 23, 1926 in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada and passed away on November 6, 2013. She was the youngest child born to Rev. Dr. Thomas Arthur Mosley and Ethel Huggons-""-Brown Mosley joining her brother, Rev. Dr. Ronald Arthur Mosley and sister, Elizabeth Ann Mosley Heyworth. She was born at home in a parsonage. Her father was a Methodist preacher who moved after WWI from England to Canada. He later moved to the New England Conference and retired as a member of the Florida Conference. Barbara attended Simmons College in Boston studying nursing and intended to be a flight nurse but WWII ended. Barbara then continued her college career at Florida Southern College. A few years earlier, as a young child when traveling through central Florida with her parents, she saw Florida Southern, met the then President, Dr. Spivey, and said ""I""m going to school there."" And so she did. Barbara graduated in 1948 with a degree in Christian Education. During her college years, she joined First Methodist Church in Lakeland, worked for Rev. Warren Willis and was on the conference youth staff and team at Leesburg. Her first job after graduation was as the youth and Christian Education director at the Park Temple Methodist Church in Fort Lauderdale. She met a young pastor, Thomas Glenn Mitchell at the Florida Annual Conference in June 1949 and they had their first date. He visited her in Fort Lauderdale in July and proposed. In August, he visited her at Martha""s Vineyard where she was vacationing with her parents, asked Dr. Mosley for her hand and gave her the engagement ring. Six months after meeting, they were married January 5, 1950 and when Tom died in 2009, they had been married 59 years. Barbara and Tom were seldom apart after their wedding. They had three children: Barbara Jeanne Mitchell Driscoll, Thomas Glenn Bosley-""-Mitchell, and James Arthur Mitchell. Barbara is now an Assistant State Attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Glenn is the Pastor at St. John""s on the Lake UMC in Miami Beach and Jim is the Pastor at Grace on the Island UMC in Venice. Barbara journeyed alongside Tom as a ""Preacher""s Wife"" and often pursuing Christian Education as Tom served in churches throughout Florida including Inverness, Homosassa Springs, Crystal River, Starke, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Bradenton, Gainesville, Tampa, Eau Gallie, Hollywood, as the Florida Conference Associate Council Director in Lakeland and as the District Superintendent in Tallahassee. They retired and moved to their home in Lake Junaluska, NC. After missing the grandchildren (there are now 13), they moved back to Lakeland, first at Fairway Villas, and then to the Estates at Carpenters. Over the years Barbara had several careers, including a long stint as the Director of the Baptist Children""s Home, here in Lakeland, employed by the State of Florida DCF as a social worker, running a family counseling practice, fill-""-in service at the former Maas Brothers store, and occasionally employed as a public school teacher. After retirement Barbara continued her community service as President of Lakeland Habitat for Humanity, as the President of the United Methodist Women at First UMC, Lakeland, and President of the Residents Association at Carpenters Estates. Barbara is survived by her brother and sister, her children: Barbara, Glenn and Gaye, Jim and Nancy. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held at the First United Methodist Church, 72 Morton Drive, Lakeland, Florida 33801 on Monday, November 18 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Memorial Fund at First United Methodist Church of Lakeland, designated either for the United Methodist Women Scholarship Fund or the United Methodist Church Youth Camp Leadership Team. Service: 11/18/2013 First United Methodist Church 72 Lake Morton Dr., Lakeland, FL