Alice Mochel Barrier

With great sorrow, we must say that our beautiful mother, Alice Esther Mochel Barrier, 93, went home to the Lord on December 22, 2019. She was born March 19, 1926, in St. Louis, Missouri to a hardworking railroad man, Edward Joseph Mochel and his wife, Anna Rudolph Mochel. To a large extent, her parents’ efforts shaped her lifelong attitude towards industry vs sloth and pulling your own weight vs burdening others.

Most of her jobs were in the aviation industry. As a young woman, she worked as a weather girl at an airport in Kansas City. She eventually made her way to Texas with three friends. They drove, she said, “until they ran out of cigarettes” and finally stopped in Bandera, Texas. Mama got a job at Lost Valley Dude Ranch, and she and her friends had great fun entertaining the guests at the dude ranch. One night while dancing at the Cabaret Club in Bandera, she met her husband, William Prentiss Barrier, a pilot. They married on August 8, 1952. They lived and farmed in Lake Providence, Louisiana, and Mama worked at a bank in town. They travelled to Pecos, Texas so Daddy could dust crops – Mama stood to mark the rows for him and got dusted on every pass! They moved to Mineral Wells, Texas in 1966, where Daddy worked as a helicopter instructor pilot at Fort Wolters and Mama worked at the Mineral Wells municipal airport. In 1972, the family moved to Arlington, Texas, and Mama got a job at the Fort Worth Air Route Traffic Control Center. She retired from there in about 1987, ending her career as the Chief’s secretary, having served several distinguished ARTCC chiefs.

Alice was a long-time and enthusiastic volunteer for the Arlington Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Friends of the Arlington Public Library, the Citizens’ Police Academy of Arlington and Epworth United Methodist Church. She was a passionate supporter of Native American charities and culture, and was an avid nature enthusiast, supporting various nature conservancies and spoiling her backyard birds. She cultivated enduring friendships everywhere she went, and no one could come into her house without leaving with a full belly, a full heart, and - most likely - an arm full of clothes / candy / bubble bath from one of her most recent shopping trips.

Alice had an adventurous spirit and a natural curiosity about the world. She was widely traveled, visiting the wilds of Montana, the castles of Germany, and shelling along her beloved beaches in Florida. Her enthusiasm for travel is something she instilled in her daughters and grandchildren. She was an amazing cook. Her cheeseburgers were legendary.

Alice was the best Mama you can imagine. She taught us to be hopeful and resilient. She taught us to look for the best in people. She taught to travel with an open mind, and to not be afraid to meet new people. She threw great parties. She loved us and we loved her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, by her brother Edward and his wife, Lorraine, by her brother-in-law Nathan Barrier and his wife, Jean, by her nephew, Bill David Barrier, and her own husband of 46 years, William P. Barrier. Alice leaves behind an enduring legacy in her children, Jeanne Barrier, Ann Barrier Smith and her husband, Robert; her grandchildren, Ansel David Traynor, Leah Ann Smith, and Rachel Ann Smith; and her beloved great-granddaughter, Kelly Elizabeth Salisbury. She is also survived by her nephews, Bob Mochel, Nathan Barrier, Tim Barrier, and John Barrier, and their wonderful wives and children.