Barbara W. Dupree

Barbara Wyatt Dupree was born in Baton Rouge on November 24, 1924 to parents Andrew Beck Wyatt and Rubye Reeder Wyatt. She grew up in Baton Rouge and spent memorable summers and holidays in Covington with her much-adored grandparents and great aunts. Her family moved to Aruba for her father's work where she attended junior and senior high school, returning to the States for her senior year at Baton Rouge High and continuing on to L.S.U. Barbara's life was forever filled with art and creativity --- she was an accomplished artist, graduating L.S.U. in 1945 with a B.F.A. majoring in lithography under the brilliant tutelage of her professor, Caroline Durieux. After graduation she worked for 10 years both as a cartographer and geological draftsman, during which time she married and moved to Ft. Worth and then Corpus Christi, Texas. There she devotedly raised her three children, played an active part in the Chi Omega Alumnae Association and designed and created costumes and stage sets for the local school of dance. Along the way, she decided to return to college where she became a certified art educator and her teaching career spanned decades as she shared her own unique enthusiasm and boundless creativity with thousands of students at the junior high, high school and college levels. After residing for 20 years in Texas she returned to her hometown of Baton Rouge where her father was still living. While teaching high school commercial art she also applied her considerable talents toward the Louisiana Concert Ballet, as well as Magnolia Mound and The Louisiana Historical Foundation. In Baton Rouge she married Thomas Byrd Dupree, her childhood neighbor and college sweetheart. They shared a loving life together and designed and built their home of 20 years on Cross Lake in Shreveport. During this time she was on the staff of Meadows Art Museum for 17 years, taught at Centenary College and actively painted and exhibited with the Hoover Watercolor Society. Tom and Barbara Dupree's 33-year marriage was filled with extensive travel and extraordinarily close friendships. Upon retirement, they moved home to Baton Rouge where Barbara was a prolific painter and member of the Baton Rouge Art League, as well as the Louisiana Art and Artists Guild, which recently honored her for her long-time association and contributions to the organization. At the age of 89 she still greatly enjoyed her monthly gatherings with the Modern Reviewers Book Club, as well as her "Lunch Bunch" of childhood friends, and she continued painting with her friends each Tuesday at Open Studio with the Louisiana Art and Artists Guild until only a few weeks ago. Her simple and generous spirit was legendary among her many friends and relations. Quietly, and without fanfare, she extended countless gifts of kindness to all who could see her goodness and receive her love. Barbara Wyatt Dupree was ever a living example of the poignant statement, "There are no great acts, only small acts, of great love." (Mother Teresa) She passed swiftly in her Williamsburg apartment at 7:15 Thursday evening, Feb.27, 2014, in the arms of her beloved son and her dear friend, Josie Williams. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Sallye Wyatt Finley of Gambrills, Maryland, and her husbands Wallace P. Woodruff and Thomas B. Dupree. She is survived by her children Barbara Woodruff Serota and husband, Alan, of Spicewood, Texas, Wallace Woodruff, Jr., of Bali, Indonesia, and Melani Woodruff and granddaughter, Chelsea Ruby Woodruff, of Durango, Colorado. She is also survived by stepsons Thomas Dupree III and wife, Laura and grandson, Mark, of Plano, Texas, Philip Dupree and wife Sandra, of Baton Rouge and grandsons Philip Dupree, Jr. and wife Tiffany, Mathew Dupree and wife Lindsey, and Angelle Dupree Gibson and husband, Chris, as well as great grandchildren, London and Bailey Dupree, Ezra Reese Dupree, and Thyrsten and Brandt Gibson. So, too, she is survived by her nieces, Dr. Diane Finley and Dr. Margaret Meier, and nephews Matt, Andrew, Michael and Dr. Patrick Finley, all from Maryland. Services will be held in Baton Rouge at Greenoaks Funeral Home at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 6, officiated by Reverend Hawley Wolfe of Broadmoor Presbyterian Church.