Anna Barbara "Ab" Inness

Anna Barbara (“AB”) Inness passed away, unexpectedly and too soon, on April 17, 2024. AB was born on March 6, 1958, in Kansas City, Missouri, the first of five children of Mike and Louise Collins. The family moved to Deerfield, Illinois, in 1966, and then to Dallas in 1971. AB bucked family tradition when she traded in her Catholic uniform for the neighborhood public school, W.T. White High School, where she especially loved her time being on the Caballeras Drill Team. She attended University of Dallas for undergrad and later received her MBA from SMU. After graduation, she went to work at Bank of America in Dallas, where she met a handsome young manager by the name of Allen Inness who swept her off her feet. Allen and A.B. married on June 8, 1996, moved into their home in Arlington and over the years added their two boys, James and Will, and many dogs to the family.

Growing up, AB would carefully sort and stack her unopened Halloween candy and Christmas presents, saving them sometimes for days, a ritual that her siblings found both crazy and a little brilliant. She loved music and spent most of her babysitting money on 45’s of the 70’s rock bands. She and the neighborhood gang would spend afternoons hanging around in their hip-hugger corduroys showing off and trading their 45’s. If we try, sometimes we can still hear the Doobie Brothers and Jethro Tull blasting from the record player in her room. AB was perhaps less dedicated to her babysitting duties. Her brothers had several close calls while she was in charge, the most famous of which is the great hot dog mercury poisoning incident that, at least in Collins folklore, could have potentially taken out all three boys at once. There was also the accidental (but, in hindsight, foreseeable) roller skating mishap that resulted in Elmo breaking a leg, which AB tried to hide from our parents by making him just “walk it off.” Thankfully we all survived, and it seems she had gotten the hang of it by the time she had her own kids.

When our father passed away unexpectedly in 1987, AB became our mother’s traveling companion. They shared some amazing adventures together, including an Alaskan cruise, a trip to the pyramids in Egypt, and a voyage on the QEII. Over the years, AB worked as a senior accountant at several different real estate companies in Dallas and Grand Prairie. She worked very hard and spent most of her free time with Allen and the boys. Sadly, the family lost Allen in 2023, and AB doubled down on her devotion to James and Will. She took on the role of single parent without complaint and in her usual upbeat manner. Although left without their parents too young, the boys will always know how much they were adored by Allen and AB and that they have two very special guardian angels watching over them.

AB was a great mother and big sister and will be missed immeasurably. If there is a room filled with peanut M&Ms in heaven, that’s where she will be found. She is preceded in death by her husband, Allen, and our mom and dad. She is survived by her sons, James Inness and Will Inness; her siblings, M.L. Menefee (David); Elmo Collins (Lori); Bill Collins (Alina); and Jimmy Collins (Erica); and an extended family of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Thank you for all the love, food, support and prayers of friends and family during this time; we could not do it without all of you.

A celebration of AB’s life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on May 30, 2024, at Woodland West Church of Christ, 3101 W Park Row Dr, Arlington, TX 76013.

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