Luz Stella Barrios

Funeral services for Ms. Luz Stella Barrios will begin at 2:00 on Friday, August 8, 2025 at Robert Barham Family Funeral Home with Father Carlisle Beggerly officiating. Interment rites will immediately follow at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements. The family requests that friends wear colorful clothing to celebrate her life.

Ms. Barrios, age 85, of Meridian passed away on August 6, 2025 at St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson.

Ms. Barrios was a member of the Catholic Community of Meridian.

In her daughter's words, "Mom was born on November 15th, 1939. She was the youngest of nine children. She was born in Girardot Colombia, South America. As a child she loved to be inquisitive and followed her older siblings around all the time. She began working at Almacenes Vida as a young adult where she was the only female to fight for unionized workers. Justice has always been a constant theme in Mom's life.

Eventually Mom left her beautiful country that she loved with all her might and went to Ponce Puerto Rico, and later St. Croix Virgin Islands. Our Mom always reiterated the importance of heritage and pride in us. She always made sure that we were successful. I remember after school we used to get home and she had Spanish Lessons, real lessons with textbooks, workbooks, just the works. She ensured that we were able to read it, write it, and speak it.

Mom was an incredibly amazing woman. She stepped up to extremely difficult challenges with the grace and tenacity of a tiger. She worked at Head Start, she loved children and eventually retired, she was supremely proud of this, even though she never learned to speak the language she still an exemplary employee.

Mom was a faithful woman. She instilled the love for God in us from a very early age. She was active in our church and was a eucharistic minister. Through this she dedicated her Sundays as a day of service to God by visiting shutins, sick, elderly and taking the holy eucharist and the Word of God to them. And there she was again with her little ducklings, meaning us, who would go with her on this ministry.

However, her vocation of caring for others was not limited to Sundays, as mom would always advocate and helped others in need regardless of her own conditions. Many were the times that mom would get events ready to gather supplies for families in need or take from her check, which she worked miracles with, and purchase groceries for other, even people she did not know.

Mom taught us so many valuable lessons and some of the most important ones were to always

1. Practice Gratitude. Regardless of what God plan was or what life throws your way always be grateful.

2. Be Honest. No matter what be honest, if you are not the truth always comes out.

3. Always Do What's Right: Regardless of if anyone hears it or sees it, do what is right, even if you are the only one doing it.

4. Be Faithful: God has given so much to us, we need to rejoice and praise him always.

5. Laughter is the Best Medicine: Mom always said that her longevity was because regardless of the pain she was suffering she always had a witty sassy sense of humor.

6. Family is Everything. No matter what, family always sticks together. Work things out. Because at the end of the day, family is what will always hold you up when you are at your weakest. Mom always used to tell us that she loved us like the momma elephant loved the baby elephants because she admired how kind, loving, and close knit they are.

7. Be Brave. Mom faced everything regardless of the fear involved. She never let fear control her, she would face it head on. And that in our book is the pure definition of courage.

8. Be Impactful. Even after death mom was still helping others and doing to touch lives. And this was so clear when we realized she was an organ donor. And she was able to leave her mark."

Survivors include her daughters, Faride Abduljaber (Jorgen Pedersen), Vicky Abduljaber (Hommy Rodriguez), and Nigma Abduljaber (Gil Sharp); grandchildren, Johnny Pedersen, Angela Pedersen, Nathan Rodriguez, Ethan Rodriguez, and Hayden Rodriguez; great-granddaughter, Aria Isabella Rodriguez; special nephew, Juan Manuel Nino; special friends, Kristy Truitt, Mercedes Rodriguez, Milagros Lopez, Carmen Paralitticci, Dr. Pradip Baiju, and Marina Moss; as well as numerous other family members and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents and eight siblings. She was the youngest and last surviving of her family.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.robertbarhamffh.com .

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests sharing memorial contributions with The American Macular Degeneration Foundation or The American Heart Association for peripheral artery disease research.

The family will receive guests from 1:00 until 1:45 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.