Ramona Lee Etta Barnes (; July 7, 1938 – November 26, 2003) was a Republican politician in the state of

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. She served in the

Alaska House of Representatives The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people pe ...

for two periods spanning 1979 and 1985 and 1987 and 2001. She was the first female Speaker of the House in Alaska.

Early life

Barnes was born on July 7, 1938, in

Pikeville, Tennessee Pikeville is a city in and the county seat of Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Bledsoe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 1,824 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Sequatchie River valley was part of Cherokee l ...

. Her father was Ellison Wheeler, a lawyer. She attended Bledsoe County High School in Tennessee and Waipahu Community College in Hawaii before graduating from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. She married Larry Barnes in 1960, who was in the military, and the couple had three children: Randall, Michael and Michelle. The couple later divorced. She served as an undercover agent for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The family moved to

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

. She managed a beauty shop and salon, was president of the Arctic Research Consultants, Inc, and served on the school board of the

Elmendorf Air Force Base Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command ( ...

between 1973 and 1976 before getting involved in politics. Barnes was a delegate to the 1976 and 1978 Republican state conventions and was a member of the precinct committee. She was also a director of the Anchorage Community Mental Health Center and the Alaska Blood Bank.

Political career

Barnes was first elected to the

in 1978. She lost re-election to Marco Pignalberi in 1984 but she was re-elected in the 1986 general election. She was the first woman in the state to hold every leadership position in the House, serving as majority leader in 1983, chair of the judiciary and legislative ethics committees and minority whip in 1991 and minority leader in 1992. When the Republicans took control of the House in 1993, she became the Speaker of the House. She was the first female Speaker of the House in Alaska. She was known for her tough stance, evidenced by the President of the Alaska Senate gifting her a set of brass balls. On the House floor, she offended the state of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

by calling

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

"the pits of the earth." She was named an outstanding legislator of the year. Barnes was a social conservative who was focused on developing oil and gas in the state. She was a member of the Anchorage Republican Women's Club, the

National Federation of Republican Women The National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) is a political action committee that serves as the women's wing of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in the United States. It was founded in 1938 by Marion Martin (Maine pol ...

, the Navy League and the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

. She was a member of the Alaskan delegation at the

2000 Republican National Convention The 2000 Republican National Convention convened at the First Union Center (now the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 31 to August 3, 2000. The 2,066 delegates assembled at the convention nominated Texas Governor Geo ...

Death

Barnes died on November 26, 2003, at the

Providence Alaska Medical Center Providence Alaska Medical Center is Alaska's largest hospital by revenue and number of beds. It has 401 beds, 1190 nurses and more than 850 physicians on staff. It is often ranked the largest private employer in Alaska. It is located at 3200 Prov ...

in Anchorage, from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

caused by cancer. Her papers are held by the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna C ...

Notes

External links

Ramona Barnes
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Ramona 1938 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Alaska politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Alaska Legislature 21st-century American women politicians Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Deaths from pneumonia in Alaska People from Pikeville, Tennessee Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska School board members in Alaska Speakers of the Alaska House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Women state legislators in Alaska

Early life

Political career

Death

See also

Notes

External links