Venita Iona Pippen Drury Barnhill

A native Texan, Venita was born in Dothan and raised in Cisco. Her parents were Willie Leroy and Bessie Lee Pippen. She had three younger siblings: Mary Edith Pippen Morris, Evelyn Pippen Longacre and John Neal Pippen. She married Cloysce Earnest Drury on March 5, 1943. Cloysce fought with the 82 nd Airborne. As a paratrooper, he landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and fought in the other major European battles of WWII. After the war ended, he was a personal guard to General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Venita and Cloysce had three children: Pam, Gary and Thad. After Cloysce died in a plane crash in 1964, Venita worked hard to support their children.

Twenty-seven years after Cloysce’s death, Venita married James Carroll “Barney” Barnhill, a recently widowed high school classmate. Her family grew with the addition of three step-daughters, Jani, Julie and Jo, and their spouses and children. A Navy veteran, Barney was aboard the USS Enterprise when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He passed away in 2010.

Venita passed away at the age of 101. She is survived by her daughter, Pam Wood; son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Kelly Drury; son and daughter-in-law Thad and Vickie Drury; stepdaughters Jani Stokes and Julie Alberda; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family members and good friends.

A graveside memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 7, 2024, at 10:30 am at the Oakwood Cemetery in Cisco..

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