Patricia"Patsy"Tucker Barnes

Patricia "Patsy" Tucker Barnes (Mrs. Robert Roy Barnes), former vice president of American Bank, well-known community activist and pioneer in woman's leadership positions, passed away at her home Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. A native of Ponchatoula and longtime resident of Baton Rouge, she died after battling Parkinson's disease for many years. She was 79. Visiting at Broadmoor United Methodist Church on Wednesday, Aug. 11, from 9:30 a.m. until religious service at 10:30 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Fred Wideman, Bill Eubanks and Ken Carroll. Interment will follow in Sand Hill Cemetery, Ponchatoula. Patsy's longtime career with American Bank spanned more than 35 years, where she excelled in marketing and community involvement. She represented her bank in the National Association of Bank Women and was one of six members who traveled the U.S. conducting training workshops for women in banking. She served as a mentor for other women and was passionate about working to improve the status of women in the work place. Additionally, she was the first woman member of the City Club of Baton Rouge. She was an original member of the Capital Area Network in the 1970s that established a forum for supporting business and professional women leaders in the greater Baton Rouge community. Largely through her encouragement, the local group affiliated with The National Alliance for Professional Women's Network that afforded members in the group the opportunity to interface with businesswomen across the country. Long before it was common, Patsy "blazed trails" for women on community volunteer boards by serving as the first woman to chair the Capital Area United Way Board (1986), various committees of the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce and volunteer committees at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. At the chamber, she served as the first chairman of the Board of Leadership/Greater Baton Rouge, (1984-86) that resulted in the graduation of annual chamber leadership classes since 1986, and she was named the first honorary member of Leadership Baton Rouge. The United Methodist Church derived great benefit from her leadership and campaign skills. She was the first woman to chair the annual fund drive at Broadmoor United Methodist Church when she directed their first and successful with the Million Dollar Annual Budget Drive. Right after her retirement from the bank in the late 1980s, she served, for about a year, as interim executive director of the United Methodist Foundation of Louisiana, where she helped establish their giving support. Patsy and Roy were honored by the United Methodist Foundation for their visionary endowment gift that guaranteed their gifts will contribute indefinitely. Prior to this, she and Roy taught Sunday school at Istrouma United Methodist Church for many years. Patsy participated in other volunteer endeavors, such as United Way Campaign Cabinets, YWCA committees, Capital Area Network Workshop committees, Volunteer Activists Award committees and numerous other community events. She chaired the committee of six women who put together a Woman's Pavillion at the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans. She was named a Woman of Achievement in 1985 by the YWCA and a Volunteer Activist in 1987, sponsored by the Baton Rouge Speech&Hearing Foundation. Mrs. Barnes was preceded in death by her husband, Robert Roy Barnes; parents, Mortee W. Tucker and Mattie Elizabeth Davis Tucker; sister, Evelyn Tucker Stevens; and sister-in-law, Dorothy Basso Tucker. She is survived by two brothers, Russell Burns Tucker Sr., Baton Rouge, and Lucius Tucker, New Orleans; three nieces, Linda Stevens Pardo, Connie Marie Tucker and Amy Tucker; and three nephews, Russell Burns "Rusty" Tucker Jr., James W. "Jim" Tucker and David Tucker. Serving as pallbearers will be Kerry Barnes, Alan Carpenter, Jonathan Guelfo, Clay Tucker, David Tucker and Russell Burns "Rusty" Tucker. The family requests that memorial donations be made to The United Methodist Church Foundation of Louisiana, 527 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70802, Capital Area United Way, 700 Laurel St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802 or the charity of your choice. Our special thanks are in order for the loving care shown to Patsy by the Hospice of Baton Rouge staff and Ms. Lynn Nay for her extraordinary caregiving.