Barbara Ann Rands Hames, beloved Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Aunt, Sister, Friend, and Matriarch, peacefully passed away in her home in Sitka on Thursday, July 3, 2025. She was 95.
Barbara was born on August 15, 1929, in Corvallis, Oregon, the youngest of three daughters born to Clarence Ray Rands and Hopewell Rosemary Whittemore. In 1935 the family traveled north to Juneau, when her father was offered work, which was hard to find during the Depression. In 1938 when Barbara was 9, the family moved to Sitka via steamship with a new job opportunity for Clarence; and thus began an amazing era of a hard-working, pioneering family, making their way in a remote part of The Last Frontier.
Barbara’s childhood consisted of playing on the beach which is now Crescent Harbor, fishing with her parents and older sisters Althea and Margaret (“Midge”), and always helping out with her parents’ business endeavors which included bicycle rentals, a music store, a taxi cab, a flower shop, a boarding house and eventually retail groceries.
Many troops were stationed in Sitka during WWII and Barbara had fond memories of her parents forming a band to play at the USO dances over on Japonski Island. She and her two sisters also sang along with the band. She was very jealous of her older sisters who got to dance with the service men, but she was a bit too young and her mother kept a close watch on her!
Barbara attended Sitka High School, located then on Baranof Street at Etolin Street, where she was very involved in school activities. She was a song leader at basketball games and said, “I really didn’t know what I was doing- I just jumped up and down and waved my pompoms in the air, but it sure was fun!” She was quite adept at applying her lipstick without a mirror. “There weren’t any mirrors in the backseat of cars when I was a teenager and I couldn’t walk into my house after a date without freshly applied lipstick!”
After graduating high school in 1948, Barbara boarded a Greyhound bus in Seattle, Washington, bound for Washington State University in Pullman. On the same bus was a handsome GI, who had just completed his stint in the U.S. Army after serving time in Japan. Lloyd Hames was on his way back home to Rosalia, Washington, and was struck by the black-haired beauty sitting a few rows ahead of him. When he noticed another young man getting fresh with Barbara, Lloyd approached her seat and asked her annoying seat mate to move. He told Barbara he would sit next to her and make sure she wasn’t bothered again.
The two dated that first year she was in college at WSU and when summer approached, Barbara asked her parents if she could bring the young man that had been courting her home for the summer. Barbara’s parents, Clarence and Hopewell decided to build a grocery store that summer and Barbara’s farmer-beau would surely be good help. Lloyd helped the Randses build Market Center, which opened in 1949 and still stands in its original location on the corner of Baranof and Biorka Streets in Sitka. The lovebirds did not return to college that fall, and Lloyd and Barbara were married on January 7, 1950, at the First Presbyterian Church on the campus of Sheldon Jackson College.
After a chilly winter honeymoon on a steamship in the Gulf of Alaska, the couple began working side-by-side with Barbara’s parents, managing and running Market Center as well as The Random House and Barbara’s Flowers. They welcomed their first child, Randal in 1951, daughter Rhonda in 1954, and son Roger in 1956.
Life was busy for the entire family, but Barbara managed her home and family as well as working in the stores, and volunteering her time with many charities and civic organizations. Barbara was a strong woman of faith and was a faithful member of the First Presbyterian Church, and later Sitka United Methodist Church. When her children were younger she served as Brownie and Girl Scout leader, and Rainbow Girls leader through the Order of the Eastern Star. Barbara was also member of the Sitka Woman’s Club, Beta Sigma Phi and P.E.O. International.
In 1969 Barbara’s parents retired and she and Lloyd purchased their businesses from them, forming Hames Corporation. Barbara and Lloyd were a Dynamic Duo and were true partners in all they endeavored. Lloyd was the visionary, but it was Barbara who kept things organized and on task. She handled all the financial business of the company, and was always coming up with creative marketing ideas. In 1978 she was instrumental in the development of Sea Mart Quality Foods in Sitka. It was Barbara who dreamed up the store’s iconic mascot, Captain SeaMart. “It was my idea, but I let Lloyd have the credit!” Captain SeaMart is only one of many successful ideas Barbara came up with through the years.
Along the way, and through all the busy-ness and success of the family businesses, Barbara was most proud of her children and as they grew, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was a true Matriarch to the family, making sure that they had quality time together and making as many memories as possible. She loved baking elaborate birthday cakes for her children growing up, and baking cookies and having tea parties with her grandchildren. She loved a good game of cards and dominoes, but was a sore loser.
After retirement, Barbara enjoyed spending her winters in Palm Desert, California, where she enjoyed going to the theater and dining in all the many restaurants in the area. She was happiest when family and friends came to visit her there. She was known as a consummate hostess, throwing many dinner parties and entertaining guests in her homes. Ever elegant, Barbara never left the house before dressing well, accessorizing, and making sure her hair and makeup were in place; always setting a good example for her family and friends.
Her beloved husband Lloyd passed away in 2013. They were married for 63 wonderful years and they have left an amazing legacy of love and integrity for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Along with Lloyd, Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Clarence and Hopewell Rands, her sister Althea Rands Buckingham, and sweet granddaughter Raphaella “Ellie” Hames.
Barbara is survived by her children Randal (Julie) Hames, Sitka; Rhonda Hope Hames, Ketchikan; and Roger (Mary) Hames, Sitka. She is survived by seven grandchildren: Byron (Reneé) Hames, Maricopa, Arizona; Rico (Heather) Madaffari, San Diego, California; Rosanne (Brad) McGough, Palmer; Randi Ann Hames, Palmer; Andrew (Kristin) Hames, Sitka; Roger Lloyd Hames, Sitka, and Brian (Jessica) Hames, Sitka.
Fourteen great-grandchildren survive their Grandma Barbara: Dorianne, Benjamin and Charlotte Hames, Maricopa; Paisley, Siena and Emerson Madaffari, San Diego; Braydon, Briston and Braddock McGough, Palmer; and Justin, Morgan, Molly, Henry and Clark Hames, Sitka.
She also is survived by her beloved older sister Margaret “Midge” Morrison of Watsonville, California, as well as many dear nieces and nephews who adored their Aunt Barbara.
The family is planning a celebration of life for their Matriarch in the fall, the date to be determined. The public is invited to a viewing at Prewitt’s Funeral Home from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 12.
In lieu of flowers, the family knows that Barbara would be grateful for gifts in her name to Sitka United Methodist Church (303 Kimsham Street, Sitka, AK 99835) or to Brave Heart Volunteers (P.O. Box 6336, Sitka, AK 99835).
“Rest in Sweet Peace, Barbara. You were, and always will be, loved,” her family wrote.
