Barbara (Bobbie) Partain, 77, of Melbourne, FL passed away peacefully on May 22, 2021.
Bobbie was born on July 28, 1943 to Robert and June Quinn in Chattanooga, TN. After graduating from Chattanooga High School in 1961, she went on to study English literature at the University of Chattanooga, where she was also a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Bobbie was a participant in the Miss Chattanooga pageant and also sang in a few swing bands on the weekends while attending college.
Following graduation in 1965, she moved to Florida and taught English literature at Eau Gallie High School. During that time she met William (Bill) Partain, whom she married in 1967, beginning 53 years of adventures together while raising two daughters. These adventures included restoring an old sailboat and exploring the Florida Keys until they ran out of money; skiing, camping, and backpacking the Pacific Northwest as well as the Southwestern US; boating trips to Lake Powell; hiking the Grand Canyon; and numerous road trips all over North America, from Canada all the way down to the southern tip of Baja.
Bobbie was a loving and dedicated mother, leading Girl Scout troops, volunteering in her girls’ activities, and teaching them her love of reading, music, and art. As a stay at home mom during her girls’ younger years, she went back to school in the evenings, earning a second degree in Quality Assurance Engineering, for which she was very proud. She went on to have a very successful career spanning more than two decades, ultimately earning the Quality New Mexico award at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), presented to her by then-governor Gary Johnson.
After retiring from LANL, Bobbie and Bill moved back to Florida, settling in the small community of Scottsmoor, where Bobbie became active in the local community association and other organizations, volunteering in a number of capacities. She especially loved spending time outdoors at her place with her dogs and knitting with friends. Following Bill’s stroke in 2017, they moved to The Fountains of Melbourne, where the residents and staff immediately fell in love with her.
She will be remembered by family, friends and former coworkers for her Southern grace and charm; for always having a kind word and putting others’ needs before her own; for her honesty, integrity, and strong work ethic; for her ability to burst out into song at any moment; for her patience and humility; for her quick and wonderful laugh; and for her ability to make everyone around her feel special. She was truly one in a million, and she will be greatly missed.
Bobbie was preceded in death by her parents and her younger brother, Randy Quinn. She is survived by her younger sister, Marti Quinn and family of Chattanooga, TN; husband Bill Partain of Melbourne, FL; daughter Aimee Blanchard (Jayson) of Los Alamos, NM; daughter Angie Thomas (Karl) and grandson Cody Thomas of Anchor Point, AK; and numerous other family and friends.
Bobbie’s family wishes to thank the staff at The Fountains for caring for and loving her as family, and for the nurses at the VITAS Inpatient Hospice Center for their wonderful care of Bobbie and support of her family. Bobbie was never big on cut flowers, but she loved animals. Therefore, in lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her name to the Best Friends Animal Society at https://bestfriends.org/.
Bobbie’s remains will be interred at the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery in Mims, FL on Saturday, May 29, 2021 with a short service to be held at 1 pm. Those wishing to join the family there should arrive about 10 minutes to 1 at Lane B.