Barbara Simmons Rains Dr.

Barbara Simmons Rains (Dr. Barbara Simmons) was born on February 15, 1938, and died in Las Cruces, NM on August 6, 2009. She was born in Whitesboro, Texas, to Pauline (deceased) and William Arthur Mathews of Tyler, TX. She is survived by her husband of thirty-one years, Doug Rains of Las Cruces; son, Eric Hunter Simmons of Lubbock, TX; Brian and Terry Rains of Houston, TX; Mike and Janet Rains of Austin, TX; sister Rose Anne Georg of Paris, TX; brother William A. (Bill) Mathews of Carrollton, TX; five grandchildren; one great grandchild, four nieces and one nephew. Barbara graduated from Paris High School, Paris Jr. College and Texas Woman's University before beginning her professional career. She taught elementary grades in the Lubbock Public schools and served as a demonstration teacher. The tragic death of her eight-year-old daughter, Lisa, in 1963 created a large void in her life. She partially filled that void by completing her Masters and Doctoral degrees. She then became an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. Her career at Texas Tech including teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, serving as chair of the Early Childhood/Elementary Education Department, full professor and associate dean of the Graduate School. Barbara was named an "Outstanding Alumnus" of Texas Tech in 1993. Barbara's academic accomplishments included publishing over 100 articles in professional journals. Beyond research she developed teaching kits for commercial sale. These included Talking Books for Texas Instruments. For Apple Computers she developed "First Encounters: Teaching Computer Literacy Skills to Young Children." In addition to teaching, writing, doing research and serving as a national and international consultant, Barbara provided leadership at the state, national and international level. She loved to travel. She worked at sites such as Beirut, Lebanon; Costa Rica, Dominica, St. Lucia, Mexico, Cairo, and Alexandria, Egypt; Rome and Barbados. In 1985, Barbara was asked to become Dean of the College of Education at NMSU. In her over 12 years of service, before retiring due to health complications, she brought many changes to the college: continuing to hire excellent faculty, increasing external funding, and promoting new resources for the student and faculty. Under Barbara's leadership the "Children's Village" was created to provide childcare for students and NMSU employees. In 1991 she was selected to receive the Governor's award as an "Outstanding New Mexico Woman" for her efforts in ensuring sure that the college received positive recognition and the highest ranking by accreditation teams. After retiring she continued to support the NMSU, KRWG-TV, Community of Hope, Keep New Mexico Beautiful, and the Board of Advocates for the College of Education. A memorial service and celebration of Barbara's rich life will be held Monday, August 10 at 10:00 AM at Getz Funeral Home, officiated by her brother, Bill. In lieu of flowers please make donations to the Dr. Barbara Simmons Scholarship Fund at NMSU College of Education or to the Salvation Army Dress the Child Program in care of Julie Koening, Sr. Vice President at First New Mexico Bank PO Box 429 Las Cruces, NM 88004. PDF Printable Version