Pianist
Barbara Huggins
Barbara was born and raised in central Illinois where her father and her father’s ancestors farmed. The family farm, homesteaded in 1847, is still owned by her and her brother. Barbara came to Denton, where she continues to live, in 1964 to teach Latin and French at NTSU(now University of North Texas). She retired in 1999 which is when Barbara Vick, then a member of this church, urged her to consider becoming the church pianist. She started playing for PPFUMC in January 2000; over 24 years ago.
Her husband passed away in 2020; she counts her blessings that she has a loving family, many friends, and her church family for support. She has a daughter and a son, six grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren, most of whom live in the DFW area. One grandson and his family live in Seattle.
One of her pastimes is playing the ancient Chinese game of MahJongg and would be willing to teach it to anyone in the church interested in learning how to play. She also enjoys traveling each summer to Colorado. She and her husband bought a cabin in the San Juan Mountain Range in 1985 and have spent many wonderful summers there with family. When asked about her musical
talents, she says “music has always been a healing and spiritual exercise for me, so I feel very fortunate to be able to play for Sunday services and the Christmas cantata. You might say that music and playing for the church is my favorite pastime.”
