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Nita Tutt Barton Hesford, 96, Milltown, KY native Shared at the request of Bruce Harris, Lindsey Wilson University Trustee, remembering Nita and her sister Frances Glasgow. Juanita "Nita" Tutt Barton Hesford was born on March 29, 1930 in Milltown Kentucky. She was the baby, with five brothers and a sister. According to all the family, she arrived with her feisty personality. One day when she was about four years old, she went with her mother to pick blackberries. When she arrived home, her father was sitting in the yard waiting. He reached for some blackberries. Mom slapped his hand and told him,"those who don't work, don't eat." Nita's father was killed in a car accident when she was five years old, leaving her mother to take care of six boys, two girls and a mother-in-law, yet as recently as December 8th, she was telling Pastor Jeff Floyd, ofher home church, First Baptist Church Pascagoula, what a blessed childhood she had. Mr. Jim Mercer and his wife Molly lived next door and ran a mercantile store. They had no children and adopted Nita and her siblings, who lovingly referred to them as Uncle Jim and Aunt Molly. On Sunday afternoons, they would go for a drive in their Willis Knight automobile. Nita tried to be close by so they would "offer" to take her with them. These car rides always ended at the ice cream parlor. From a young age, she would often go to Columbia, Kentucky by herself, which was a dozen miles away. At 17 years old, she went to work for Uncle Jim Mercer, who had the local general store where she would ride the bus to Columbia and go to the bank to make deposits. With the money earned, she started her life long pursuit by buying her first pair of shoes which were black suede, peep toe, strappy wedges. You never saw Nita that she was not dressed to the nines in her high heels and hats. She met Bill Barton while she was waitressing at the Hilltop Cafe in Columbia. He was the love of her life. When Bill went to ask Mrs. Tutt for her permission to marry Nita... Mrs. Tutt who adored Bill, told him, "I love you, but I'm gonna tell you something... She is spoiled rotten. Spoiled like an only child. You can't bring her back if you take her away from here." Dr. Bill later told her that he thought about bringing her back, but remembered what she had said! Bill was very handsome and gregarious and loved to flirt. Bill never met a stranger and would often flirt with the waitresses when the family went for dinner. Over time, the boys complained to their mother about his flirting, whereupon she replied, "Don't worry about that. He's coming home with us." She had a lot of "Nitaisms" and, as we all know, she believed in being direct, reminding us, "People can't read your mind. God gave you a mouth- use it." Another one of her favorites was Emily Dickinson, who said, "my friends are my estate," which is evident by the phone calls and visits during her last days. By 1952, Bill and Nita were married and living in Florida. Cecil B. Demille was filming the movie, "The Greatest Show on Earth" and a call went out for local people to come be "extras" in the movie. Nita and her friend went, and found themselves sitting inside a circus tent, watching trapeze artists, clowns, and elephants perform. Unfortunately, when the film came out, one of the elephants was between Nita and the camera. After work at that time, Nita would pack a light meal and she and Bill would head to the beach to relax. As she revealed in the last few months of her life, Charlton and Lydia Heston, metthem one night on the beach and began a friendship and a routine of meeting most evenings. Bill decided to become a doctor of chiropractic and attended Palmer Chiropractic College in Davenport, Iowa. After graduation, he chose to move to Pascagoula, Mississippi, near the shipyard where he could help the workers who had back problems. Both sons were born in Pascagoula, Harvey in 1955 and Mark in 1960. Unfortunately, Dr. Bill died of a heart attack in 1975 at the age of 52, as a result of his physical trauma he endured as a POW in Germany following the Battle of the Bulge. Nita remarried a few years later to US Coast Guard Ret. Captain A. J. Hesford, whose wife had died of cancer. She met him at his relatives, the Shepard's, at a party and asked, "Art, have you thought about remarrying?" He replied, "No, not really." Mom said, "Well, if you do, you won't find a better wife than me." He was smitten and what followed was a great 25 years marriage with a wonderful blending of the two families. Art often said, if Nita had been his wife earlier, he would have retired as an Admiral. Mom was widowed again while in her early 70's, and though she dated some, she said that she had had two great husbands and would not settle for a standard less than them. No one ever qualified. She lost her home of 40 years at 714 Enger Drive,Pascagoula, due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, shortly after her 75th birthday. She wisely listened to the "little voice" that guided her and moved back home to Columbia, Kentucky. A brother and sister were still living so she enjoyed time with them and her nieces, nephews and friends in Kentucky. There she lived in an upstairs apartment until the summer of 2021, when she came to Ocean Springs to live in an assisted living facility called Truewood. She soon made a wonderful home there and made many great friends until she fell 2 days after Thanksgiving 2025, and dislocated a hip requiring surgery. She was unable to return to Truewood and moved to Crystal's Place, a residential facility in Ocean Springs. There she had excellent care from Crystal and her staff until her passing at age 96. She is preceded in death by her husbands, Dr. William H. Barton (Bill) and Captain Arthur J. Hesford (Art) and two step-sons, Captain Peter Hesford and Captain Arkie Hesford. She is survived by two sons: Harvey Barton (Ross) and Mark Barton (Daniell) and stepson, John Hesford (Priscilla); Grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren: Kristina Barton O'Leary (Ian), Jillian Barton Rushing (Josh), Gentry Barton (Lydia), Bruce Harris (adopted), Joshua Barton, Miles Barton, Peter Hesford, Sarah Thompson (Larry), J.P. Hesford (Katie), Avery Hesford Harrison (Peebles), Jessica Hesford Cannon (Kevin). The family extends our greatest appreciation to the staff at Truewood, the staff at Crystal's Place and her hospice workers. In lieu of flowers, any donations you would like to make should go to: Lindsey Wilson University, 210 Lindsey Wilson Street Columbia, KY 42728 or Gideon's International c/o 3007 Magnolia Street, Pascagoula Ms 39567. Visitation will be Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 10:30 - 12:00 noon, at O'Bryant-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula. Funeral Service will begin at 12 noon in the funeral home chapel with Bruce Harris, Mark Barton and Harvey Barton officiating. Pallbearers will be Dusty Hall, Kimble Brooks, Eddie Merrell, Wayne Stewart, Zack Stewart and David Tadlock This story was posted on 2026-04-07 19:28:04
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