Florence Barnes

Florence Virginia Barnes, 72, passed away June 23, 2023, from complications of lupus, COPD, and the last, most lethal burden, leukemia. She was born in St Augustine, Florida, to Roy and Ellie Barnes on October 26, 1950, 13 months after her sister Nancy. Due to the closeness in age, at first they were raised as twins (matching haircuts, outfits, combined birthday parties, etc) much to their chagrin. But in 1955 Roy Jr arrived, diverting Ellie’s attention, enabling Flo to express her sparkling individuality. At nine Florence proclaimed to all she wanted a little sister. Ellie, accordingly, would drop Flo at the Cathedral after school to pray, and in 1960 Mary duly arrived, completing the family.

St Augustine, with its numerous historical landmarks, the Matanzas bay front, ocean inlet, plentiful fishing, and miles of sandy beaches, was a fabulous spot for a child to grow up; there were regular multiple-family cookouts on the beach during temperate months; sailing expeditions across the bay in Florence and Nancy’s six-foot wooden pram painted bright red, easily visible from shore in case Roy Sr needed to come out in his motorboat to give them a tow (just that one time); rescues of various marsh fowl, converting their bathtub to a temporary bird sanctuary (only twice); and hide-and-seek along the Fort’s seaward ramparts (always).

Florence was a spirited, bright, vivacious, and loving child. Initially enrolled with Nancy at St Joseph’s Academy, Florence declared, in first grade, her desire to become a nun after Sister Henrietta gave her a tour of the Convent. Roy, over Ellie’s strenuous objections, transferred both girls to public school. At Orange Street Elementary Flo won a marksmanship award, back when children were taught to respect handguns. Due to her beauty and sense of humor, Flo was very popular in high school and joined many social clubs, including the Teen Town board. And she was smart; her senior year she was named a National Merit Scholarship semifinalist. In 1972 Flo graduated from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, with a degree in American Studies and a minor in Journalism. It was here her first poems and stories were published, some in the Macon Telegraph, which resulted in her induction into Pi Delta Epsilon, the honorary collegiate journalism fraternity, which celebrated, among other fine qualities, intellectual honesty.

 After a brief stint at the Atlanta Constitution as a writer, Florence returned to St Augustine. Soon after, following her mother’s passionate and adventuresome nature, Flo decided to follow her heart and move far away from home. In 1977 she settled in Santa Barbara, first working for the Southern California Gas Company and then Raytheon, bravely riding to work along heavily-traveled Hwy 101 on her Honda 125 motorcycle and, on weekends, roller skating under the palm trees along the bike path fronting the Pacific. Evenings she pursued art classes at Santa Barbara City College and exhibited her paintings in local shows and galleries. After eight creative and fun-filled years in Santa Barbara, making life-long friends, a new adventure called. Her prayers told her Santa Fe was the place to go. She saw a picture of the plaza, its bare trees sprinkled with snow like fairy dust, and she was hooked.

Once in Santa Fe Florence quickly gravitated to the verdant Village of Tesuque and to a grouping of simple cottages perched over the burbling Tesuque River. Flo chose one with windows overlooking the shady riverbank. In this peaceful oasis her heart sang as deer, raccoons, coyotes and a variety of birds shared the enchanted woods with her. Her first job in Santa Fe was at the prestigious Gerald Peters Gallery. Here she handled her many duties surrounded by the inspiring works of Georgia O’Keefe and many Native and local artists. As Flo immersed herself in the spirituality and culture of the high desert and its inhabitants, she studied mandalas, presenting workshops on this art form at Santa Fe Community College and at La Farge Library. She expressed her religious joy by painting a series of angels, giving many to friends and family who were ill or otherwise in need of spiritual healing. Her art was not limited to paper; she also took classes in raku, producing many unique pottery pieces which she presented to family and friends.

For five years Florence worked in Santa Fe’s Capitol on the Governor’s Committee on Concerns of the Handicapped, where she directed the statewide job training program for high school students with disabilities. She loved meeting students and working with special education teachers and employers, which allowed her to travel the entire glorious state of New Mexico to monitor the success of the program. In 1996 Flo transferred to a temporary but much-desired position with the New Mexico State Legislature, Secretary for the House of Representatives, under the Chief Clerk. One morning she was privileged to give the opening invocation to the House. From 1996 to 2002 Flo worked for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, completing ten years’ employment with the state.

In the spring of 1992 Florence made her dream trip, solo, to Paris, excitedly glimpsing the Eiffel Tower shrouded in fog as she landed. From her petite hotel on the Left Bank operated by nuns, Flo journeyed daily to magnificent churches, climbing to the top of Notre Dame to capture an ethereal photo of its main spire. She explored many of the city’s exquisite museums and made a side trip to Monet’s Giverney, which caused her, upon her return, to transform her cottage’s walls from white to a sunny yellow.

Though raised a Catholic, Florence was drawn to Buddhism and Native American spiritual beliefs, but the power and poetry of Christianity remained her first love. In 1991 she joined the Church of Religious Science where she joyfully added her beautiful soprano voice to the choir during Sunday services. She also joined the pastoral care committee, Angles Afoot, which benefited her when she became dangerously ill, hospitalized, and later diagnosed with lupus in 1995. Through the resulting pain and disability she continued to live her life joyfully, always aiding others, and continued her art, joining an Artist’s Way group. Seeking additional diversions during this dark time, and inspired by the delightful fauna of scenic Tesuque, Florence returned to her writing, incorporating her everyday walks and experiences in the Village into a series of entertaining vignettes about country life. These stories were published in several area newspapers. As a free-lance reporter she focused on many topics of local interest, especially health, interviewing, among others, Dr Larry Dossey, who propounded the importance of healing prayer for illness, and Robert Redford’s son Jamie, who required liver transplants after his diagnosis with a rare autoimmune disease. These stories and others were published in the Santa Fe Sun, Eldorado Sun, Santa Fe Reporter, The New Mexican, Feliz Navidad and the Santa Fean. At the time of Florence’s death she was collecting her Tesuque stories for a book about life in this peaceful, scenic Village, which became her and her series of beloved kitties’ home for thirty-seven years.

Florence’s whimsical watercolors of fantasy characters and animals, as well as her mandalas, angels, and holiday art were shown locally at various Santa Fe galleries and special exhibitions. Her art was also shown in Madrid, Los Alamos, and Las Vegas, New Mexico, in Santa Barbara, California, and in her hometown of St Augustine, Florida.

 After her lupus diagnosis in 1995, Florence reduced her workload, switching to part-time work with the Santa Fe Public School System, as, variously: tutor, art specialist for the After School Program, substitute teacher, and teacher aide. She learned Braille to assist blind students and worked with autistic elementary students. Her grateful classes thanked her with scrapbooks of their budding art efforts, which she carefully kept alongside her own works. She also found the time to become a temporary employee with the New Mexico State Legislature, Judiciary Committee.

To help others overcome illness and grief, Florence became a Licensed Prayer Practitioner, organizing prayer chains for those experiencing pain and loss. During this time Flo also joined the annual pilgrimage, on foot, to El Santuario de Chimayo, bloodying her feet as she trudged the twenty hot, dusty miles to the sanctuary from her Tesuque home.

Throughout these more difficult years Flo never lost her puckish spirit, finding the humor in even the most mundane events, relating tales to appreciative friends and to her sister Nancy, as they covered most days’ events with late-night phone calls or texts, dissolving to giggles or outright laughter as Flo related her latest quotidian observations on the state of man and beast.

When Mary, Florence’s youngest sibling, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in 2018, Florence’s spiritual community formed a prayer chain for Mary, Florence, Nancy and Roy. When Flo was diagnosed with leukemia in April, Flo’s spiritual community was there for her daily, in the hospital, providing prayer and emotional support for her and for Nancy, who had traveled to be at her beside. We all enfolded her in our loving arms, easing her pain as her health rapidly and sadly deteriorated.

Florence was predeceased by her parents, Roy Sr (2011) and Ellie Barnes (2018), and by her younger sister Mary, in 2021. Surviving Florence are sister Nancy Huppert, of St Augustine, Florida, and brother Roy Barnes (Gail), of Wilmington, North Carolina. Sincerest thanks to the nurses and aides at Christus St Vincent’s Hospital of Santa Fe, among the many: Jessica, Aaron, Isaiah, and Robert, but most of all to Connor, who “went to the mat” for Florence the very last day of her life, so that Nancy could be in the room with her overnight. That Flo was not alone in her last moments of consciousness, that she was aware I was at her bedside, was a treasure to me. Love and gratitude also goes to Florence’s spiritual communities, both in Santa Fe and in Santa Barbara, California, who emotionally supported her during her many health trials. A special thanks to the Tesuque Volunteer Fire Department; if not for their efforts Flo would have been lost to us several times over the last fifteen years. We are extremely grateful for this volunteer organization, which protects the lives of Tesuque’s many residents. Finally, thank you, Flo, for your many loving, witty writings and for keeping copious written records which enabled Nancy to adequately set forth in this space your life and accomplishments for your many friends and acquaintances.

Charitable donations in Florence’s memory may be made to Friends of the Tesuque Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 1, Tesuque, NM 87574, or to Madi Sato’s Praising Earth, praisingearth.org, both 501(c)(3) organizations, or to any group that works to benefit the health and welfare of all people.

Memorials for Florence will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in St Augustine, Florida, dates to be announced in the near future.

                                                                         I see hands of light –

                                                       Delicate and fast as a hummingbird’s wings

                                                                Beating, beating of magic. 

                                                           Full of beauty and the spice of life

                                                                   To do the work of love. 

                                                                      I see hands of light,

                                                               Busy hands, blessed hands –

                                                                 Doing the work of love.

 Poem copyright 1998, Flo Barnes