Ramona Barnes

Barnes was born on July 7, 1938, in Pikeville, Tennessee. 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. 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 in the Philippines. The family moved to Anchorage, Alaska. 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 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 Alaska House of Representatives in 1978. She lost re-election to Marco Pignalberi in 1984 but she was re-elected in the 1986 general election. She was known for her tough stance, evidenced by the President of the Alaska Senate gifting her a set of brass balls. She was a member of the Anchorage Republican Women's Club, the National Federation of Republican Women, the Navy League and the National Rifle Association of America. == Death ==

Barnes died on November 26, 2003, at the Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, from pneumonia caused by cancer. Her papers are held by the University of Alaska Anchorage. ==See also==