Mrs. Valencia Diane Coty-Barker passed away peacefully at the age of 55, on August 29, 2015, following a two-year battle with cancer. A native of Atlanta, Valencia was born November 8, 1959. She graduated from Tennessee State University and worked in the laboratories of Smith-Kline for a decade when she made a decision to become an educator. Valencia taught high school, mostly at DeKalb County’s Open Campus, for 15 years, during which time she received her doctorate in education from Argosy University. More recently Valencia was an Assistant Professor for Environmental Sciences at Ashford University. Valencia was the loving mother of Isabella and Gabriela Coty, and is also survived by her husband Ned Barker, her daughters Isabella and Gabriela, brothers Donald Stevens and Charles Johnson, cousins Sonja Wilson-Burnett and Fatima Wilson-Bugg, aunts Mary Wright and Catherine Wilson and uncle Booker Stevens. She is remembered by many for her strength, perseverance, intelligence, humor and integrity.
