Barbara Ann Finney

Barbara Ann Finney passed away on December 2, 2019 at Penrose Hospital, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She had been in declining health for the past two years. Barbara was born in Portales, New Mexico on November 19, 1934. Her parents were Solomon M. Finney and Blanche Roberts Finney. She had two siblings, a brother, Bartlett J. Finney, and a sister, Sharon Kathleen Finney. Bartlett Finney survives her, along with two nephews, Ross Finney and Eric Finney, several cousins, and a host of friends.

From her early childhood, Barbara always enjoyed the outdoors and animals. She had an indian pony that lived in the back yard of the family home. The pony gave birth to a colt and Barbara cared for both horses. In addition, the family periodically raised chickens, cats with kittens, and dogs. She rode her horses in town as well as the surrounding country. She loved to explore. One time she brought home a petrified turtle she had found in a box canyon near Fort Sumner, New Mexico, supposedly a hideout for Billy the Kid. Another time she found a pupa that would become a moth that could not be identified by scientists at the university.

Barbara graduated from Portales High School and then attended Eastern New Mexico University(E.N.M.U.). In high school, she had explored being a physical education teacher. Later, while in her undergraduate studies, she actively pursued being a medical doctor. She was active in the Baptist Student Union at the university. She served as a student missionary in Madras, Oregon for one summer. In 1957, she graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. She then enrolled at the University of Colorado for graduate studies. Barbara received a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Biology from the University of Colorado. Her dissertation was based on her study of the small mammals in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. Dr. Finney’s subsequent areas of research were ecological and environmental effects on communities and livelihood, primarily with the Otomi tribe of native Americans in the region northwest of Mexico City, Mexico. She quite often encountered danger in her pursuits in Mexico. In one instance, she and several nuns were in the middle of a multiple car crash in Mexico City and they were jailed for a period of time. Another time she called Bart at 12:30 at night from the Kansas City Airport. She had been robbed on a bus enroute to the Mexico City airport, but she thankfully still had her passport and her plane ticket. She had been cut on her scalp with a knife. Bart picked her up at the airport, and the next morning she got a tetanus shot and was back on a plane to Denver. Another time, when her sister Kathie was with her, there was a coup in the village and they had to hide in the jungle for three days before they could be smuggled out, reportedly in nuns’ habits, and to thereby escape. She was an Associate Professor of Biology at Regis University for many years. It was a routine for her to accompany students up into the canyons and surrounding Rocky Mountains to study wildlife, particularly when the elk were bugling. Barbara also served as a student educational counselor for the University of Colorado Williams Village. She was very proud of the students whom she taught and counseled. Barbara also volunteered with the Cherry Creek Volunteer Fire Department, serving as an EMT and driving a chase van.

A fiercely independent thinking person, with an indomitable spirit, she pursued her dreams and interests, even to the point when she had to get help to go to Mexico in 2016, which turned out to be her final trip.