Barbara Higgins Hurst, a native of Yancey County, passed away Thursday, July 17, 2014 at Carolinas Medical Center Northeast in Concord after a long illness. She was 85.

Barbara, affectionately known as “Bobbie” to family and friends, was born on Feb. 3, 1929 to Milton B. and Pearle Swofford Higgins. She graduated from Burnsville High School and attended Western Carolina University.

She married James Newsome “Jimmy” Hurst of Wadesboro in 1949 and for several years they lived at various locations across the south as he was employed by a company building towers for the transmission of electricity.
“Bobbie” was a woman of versatile talents. She owned and managed a children’s clothing store in Tifton, Ga., managed a beach-front hotel in Ormand Beach, Fla., and was head teller at a bank in Alexandria, Va. She retired from the bank in the early 1990s and returned to Burnsville and a home on Robertson St. In the early 2000s she moved to Concord to be closer to immediate family.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents, sister Martha Hensley; brother M.B. “Bub” Higgins, Jr.; and her son, Bradley, who died unexpectedly in March of a heart attack.

Barbara is survived by a daughter, Joy Pinto and husband Chris of Gold Hill; daughter-in-law Carol Hurst of Gold Hill; granddaughter Lydia Pinto, grandsons Bradley and Thomas Hurst; and great-granddaughters Haley and Hunter Hurst. Also surviving is her brother, Tom Higgins of Mooresville, and a number of kin in Yancey County.

A memorial service is planned at 11a.m. Saturday, July 26 at St. Stephens Lutheran Church near Gold Hill.

Memorials may be made to the church at 4401 St. Stephens Church Road, Gold Hill, N.C. 28071.

Carolina Cremation of Salisbury and Charlotte is assisting the Hurst family. Online condolences may be made at www.carolinacremation.com.