Barbara Lucinda Bliss

Barbara Lucinda Bliss passed away December 30, 2006 in Austin after a long battle with emphysema. Barbara was born October 24, 1928 in Brownsville, Texas, the eldest daughter of Stanley Waters Bliss, an architect who practiced in the Valley and in Austin, and Lucinda Kathryn (Carsner) Bliss of Victoria. During the Second World War, Stanley Bliss folded his architectural practice and moved to the Midwest in order to manage technical drawings for new aircraft that were being rushed into service. Barbara and her two sisters Frances and Mary Lou moved with their family to various locations in Ohio and North Carolina during these years, and after the war moved back to Austin where Stanley established an architectural practice. Barbara graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in sociology, and in 1952 married Noah Otis Kennedy and moved to Corpus Christi. Noah and Barbara raised three children in Corpus Christi – Lucinda Kathryn, Noah Stanley, and William Allen – and Barbara became active in many church and community affairs. She was a past director of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center of Nueces County and active in the Coastal Bend Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. Divorced in 1980, Barbara moved to Austin where she worked as a paralegal in the Texas Land Office, and as personal assistant to former Senator Ralph Yarborough. While in Austin, her lifelong spiritual yearnings and her keen intellect lead her to seek training as a minister, and she moved to Denver in order to attend the Iliff School of Theology, from which she attained a Master of Divinity degree, leading to her ordination as a Methodist minister. Barbara’s initial assignment was as a deacon to the United Methodist Church in Zapata, Texas, where she lead a brief but vibrant ministry. About this time, however, her health problems began to interfere with her work and she was forced to leave the ministry. Barbara Bliss was a deeply loving, open, and caring person, and a devoted mother and grandmother. She was restively curious of mind and creative in spirit, possessed of a discerning intellect and unfailing empathy for her fellow travelers. Her kindness and empathy was manifest in her gentle sense of humor and charming wit. She was deeply moved by the most profound lessons of scripture and the life of Jesus and His apostles, and was courageous in applying these lessons to her own life and in her ministry to others. She was a lifetime advocate of tolerance and the Christian calling for universal love and understanding among God’s children. Barbara is survived by her sister, Mary Wilcox of Corpus Christi, and by her three children, their spouses, and four grandchildren: Luci (Kennedy) and Scott Woodard of Phoenix, AZ; Noah and Anne Kennedy and their children Joseph and Scott of Austin; Bill and Jamee Kennedy and their children Matthew and Hannah of Austin; as well as numerous beloved nephews and nieces. We who loved her and were blessed by her life mourn our loss deeply as we give thanks for her life and her love. Barbara’s family will gather for a memorial service in the chapel at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Austin Texas this Saturday, January 6 at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Barbara's name be sent to Heifer Project International http://www.heifer.org or 1 World Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72202). Obituary and guestbook online at wcfish.com