Bernice Pipkin was born October 21, 1925. She was the 6th child of 9. She married JW Long on July 15, 1944. Bernice and JW were married 59 years. They had two children Patricia Ann and Joe Don. Bernice loved her family more than any one thing. She took great joy in telling people about them. She was very proud of her family. If she loved her children, her grandchildren , as she would say, "Hung the moon." And she put each one of them in the "Catbird seat!"

She was preceded in death by her husband JW in 2003. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law Patricia and John Valentine of Granbury, Texas, and their children Vanessa and Alex Garrett of Lipan, Texas, and Rachel Valentine of Copperas Cove, Texas. She is also survived by her son and daughter-in-law Joe Don and Jamie Long of Hollywood, Florida, and their children Joel Long of Lubbock, Texas, and Jonathan and Kelsey Long of San Francisco, California. She is also survived by her three great grandchildren Peyton, Sidney and Reagan Garrett and one sister Ava Brunson of Rowlett, Texas.

These are the things that her grandchildren said about her:

Vanessa was delighted that, "She always cooked me macaroni and cheese from scratch because it was my favorite."
Rachel says, "She always let us do "experiments" in the kitchen and somehow they always turned out to be chocolate chip cookies."
Joel remembers," she spoiled me and cooked me anything I wanted."
Jonathan sums it up, " She was loving and very servant hearted. She showed me Jesus by the way she served me and other people. She showed me what it looked like to love people."


She was a joy and a blessing to our lives. She will be sorely missed.

Proverbs 31: 28 Her children arise and call her blessed...

Momma - You are blessed! We love you, Pat, John, Joe Don and Jamie


Published in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal on July 12, 2013