Rebekah Hope Barreras

Rebekah (Becky as she preferred to be called) was born May 29, 1937 to Nellie Priscilla (Jordan) Pyne and Elmer Ernest Pyne in Jerome Idaho. Becky was named Rebekah because of her mom’s involvement in the Rebekah Lodge while her father held the position of Grand Master in the Odd Fellow Lodge.

She spent the first 19 years of her life in Hazelton Idaho where her family owned and published the Hazelton weekly newspaper since 1923. She was musically inclined and played the piano and took vocal lessons as well. Becky studied voice under Miss Joyce Barnes and at age 13 held a Vocal Recital at the Presbyterian Church. She also won 1st place with her vocal solo, Thanks Be to God, in the Junior division of the Y-Teen Talent Show in 1953. She was also President for the Church of God Magic Valley Youth Rally in 1955. She attended Valley High School and was a 1956 graduate of Northwest Nazarene College High in Nampa Idaho. After moving to Portland, she worked for Dr. C.E. Maraston.

On September 20, 1957, she married Dennis Mark Higgins at the Woodstock Church of God in Portland, Oregon. Dennis a 1951 graduate of Benson High School and the Northwest Technical Institute was employed by Consolidated Freightways. They continued to live in Portland where they raised their four children. Michael, the oldest was born in 1959, Daniel was born in 1960 and their twin sisters, Melinda and Melissa, were born in 1962. Becky and Dennis were divorced in 1980.

On September 18, 1983, Becky married Marcello John Barreras at the Ascension Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon. John as he preferred to be called did many things in his lifetime (U.S. Army medic, salesman, movie and television stunt man and boxer which took them to California and North Carolina before returning to Sisters and Prineville Oregon where they enjoyed owning a few acres with horses. In 2011, they moved to Hillsboro Oregon. John died in 2013 from cancer.

As a widow, Becky enjoyed spending time on her front porch and in the clubhouse socializing with friends and neighbors in her mobile home community. When she took a bad fall in 2023, it was necessary to move her into an assisted living facility, Holi Senior Living. She lived there for almost a year before passing away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 86 on April 28, 2024 in Hillsboro, Oregon.

She is survived by two sons, Michael and Daniel Higgins, and one daughter, Melinda (Higgins) Martin. One daughter, Melissa (Higgins) Woods died in May of 2019 from cancer. She is also survived by one younger brother, Charles William (Bill) Pyne. Her older brother Raymond Elmer Pyne died in Sept of 2006.