Nell Jasper Barnes

Nell Jasper Barnes was born on October 5, 1909 in Hogue, Kentucky. She was the daughter of the late Gideon Wesley Jasper and the late Lucy Coffey Jasper. She married her husband, Ted Barnes, in 1934. Until her death she resided in the home that she and Ted built together in 1935, located on a 40-acre farm on Slate Branch Road. She died on December 29, 2011 at the age of 102. She was a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University. She began her teaching career, which would last 27 years, in this community’s many small schools. She taught in a one room school for one year and after that taught mainly upper grades. She even taught her younger brother Roland in the first grade. After retiring from her teaching, she went on to work in social work for an additional 20 years. Her primary work was supervision of juveniles, home visits, and abused children. She was an adoption specialist for the last ten years of her career. She influenced the lives of many young people. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ted who died in 1967, her only child, Nancy Barnes Withers who died in 1993, and her son-in-law, Donald Paul Withers who died in 2003. She was also preceded in death by 12 siblings, Tina Jasper, John Tyler Jasper, Eugene Jasper, Paula Elaine Jasper, Velber Jasper, Marvin D. Jasper, Susan Elizabeth Jasper, Dorothy Jasper Ramsey, Fanny Wolford Jasper Walsh, Effie Maude (Jerry) Jasper Emmerich, Gertrude Jasper Aker, and Ruth Anne Jasper Hamilton. She is survived by a brother, USN Ret. Capt. Charles Roland Jasper, Fairfax, Va, by three grandchildren- Jannelle Withers (Scott) Wright of Rochester, MN; Billianne Withers of Lexington, KY; and Paul David (Amy) Withers of Somerset, KY - and by five great-grandchildren- Ashley Elizabeth Wright, Katherine Emily Wright, Sarah Margaret Wright, Scott Joseph Wright, Andrew Larkin Withers, and numerous nieces and nephews. Special thanks to her caregivers of the last few years: Darlene Monin, Patricia Parker, Rose Somers, Margaret Newton, Melissa Winchester, and Cindy Slaughter. She has been involved in the life of her church, Pisgah Presbyterian Church since she and Ted began attending in 1940. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Pisgah Presbyterian Church, Pisgah Church Road, Somerset, KY 42503 for the Nancy Withers Memorial Flower Garden, the Pisgah Presbyterian Church Cemetery Fund, or the Pisgah Schoolhouse. Visitation will be held Sunday, January 1, 2012 at the Pulaski Funeral Home, 165 HWY 2227, Somerset, KY 42503 from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Monday January 2, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at the Pisgah Presbyterian Church, Pisgah Church Road, Somerset, KY.