Nora Virginia Leon Barnhart

BARNHART, NORA VIRGINIA LEON (1930~2000) Virginia "Jinny" Leon Barnhart was born November 14, 1930, in Rotan, Fisher County, Texas to Clarence and Nora Leon, who moved to West Texas in a covered wagon. After graduating from High School, Mrs. Barnhart attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA degree in radio. While at UT, she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Mrs. Barnhart loved adventure and traveled to such exotic and extravagant locals as Mexico, South America, and Europe. In later years, she participated in many community activities in Beeville and Goliad near the family ranch, where she and her husband, John, raised miniature donkeys. She was also a very active member of Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral where she was involved in outreach. She was an original member of the Most Gracious Order of the Dames of the Shoe, having been knighted as Dame Virginia of Ella Lee. An ardent and loquacious member of the Democratic Party, Mrs. Barnhart also was an active member of EMILY's List, a nationwide network of political donors helping to elect pro-choice Democratic women, and the River Oaks Area Democratic Women (ROAD Women). Her membership in Literatae, a women's reading club, was a great joy to her, and she was relied upon by many for reading recommendations. She will be remembered for her active, inquisitive mind, her strength and adventurousness, her generosity and love for friends and family. Mrs. Barnhart died Wednesday, October 4, 2000, in Houston, Texas. Information taken from obituary in the Houston Chronicle, Friday, October 6, 2000.