"Tootie"
The personality of a small school changes every few years driven by the times, the faculty, and the students who are attending the school. In the early sixties at Clements, located in western Limestone County of northern Alabama, the Beatles had just become known, no one had yet heard the word hippie, and JFK had just been assassinated the year before. One of the pretty girls, if not the prettiest, at Clements in that era was Tootie Barker -- how she came about acquiring the name Tootie, I don't remember knowing. Probably every boy around from junior high through college age had a crush on her. One of the nice things about her was that she gave no hint that she was vain about her appearance. She was just Tootie, a student, a cheerleader, a member of the senior class of 1963/1964. Life was full of promise. Tootie had already had several sisters graduate from Clements, one Peggy Sue a few years earlier, and one coming up after her, Judy. There was no reason to be concerned. She would follow her sisters out into life after high school and remember fondly those years at Clements. But occasionally in life something goes terribly wrong. Tootie started having headaches in the late winter of that year. The doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and gave her the usual radiation treatment of that time but it was too late. She only survived a few months after the diagnoses. I remember how unreal and sad the funeral seemed and the trip to the cemetery afterward. It has been over forty years since she left us but I know every now and then each one of us that knew her in those bygone years will pause to remember the classmate, sister, friend whose life was cut short.
(Contributed by Wayne Rose)
Published in The News Courier, Athens, Alabama, April 1964
Miss Linda Jane Barker, 17, died at 9:30 p.m. Monday at her residence in Athens. She had been suffering a brain tumor for several months.
Miss Barker was a student at Clements High School and was a lifelong resident of Limestone County.
Linda was the daughter of Redus P. Barker and Ruby Pauline (Ball) Barker, of Athens.
Surviving are her parents; six sisters, Barbara Christopher, Jo Ann Carter, Pauline Baker, Betty Faye Bolton, Peggy Sue Mitchell and Judy Gail Barker; and one brother, Phillip Michael Barker.
She was preceded in death by one brother, James Oscar Barker who died in 1937.
The personality of a small school changes every few years driven by the times, the faculty, and the students who are attending the school. In the early sixties at Clements, located in western Limestone County of northern Alabama, the Beatles had just become known, no one had yet heard the word hippie, and JFK had just been assassinated the year before. One of the pretty girls, if not the prettiest, at Clements in that era was Tootie Barker -- how she came about acquiring the name Tootie, I don't remember knowing. Probably every boy around from junior high through college age had a crush on her. One of the nice things about her was that she gave no hint that she was vain about her appearance. She was just Tootie, a student, a cheerleader, a member of the senior class of 1963/1964. Life was full of promise. Tootie had already had several sisters graduate from Clements, one Peggy Sue a few years earlier, and one coming up after her, Judy. There was no reason to be concerned. She would follow her sisters out into life after high school and remember fondly those years at Clements. But occasionally in life something goes terribly wrong. Tootie started having headaches in the late winter of that year. The doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and gave her the usual radiation treatment of that time but it was too late. She only survived a few months after the diagnoses. I remember how unreal and sad the funeral seemed and the trip to the cemetery afterward. It has been over forty years since she left us but I know every now and then each one of us that knew her in those bygone years will pause to remember the classmate, sister, friend whose life was cut short.
(Contributed by Wayne Rose)
Published in The News Courier, Athens, Alabama, April 1964
Miss Linda Jane Barker, 17, died at 9:30 p.m. Monday at her residence in Athens. She had been suffering a brain tumor for several months.
Miss Barker was a student at Clements High School and was a lifelong resident of Limestone County.
Linda was the daughter of Redus P. Barker and Ruby Pauline (Ball) Barker, of Athens.
Surviving are her parents; six sisters, Barbara Christopher, Jo Ann Carter, Pauline Baker, Betty Faye Bolton, Peggy Sue Mitchell and Judy Gail Barker; and one brother, Phillip Michael Barker.
She was preceded in death by one brother, James Oscar Barker who died in 1937.
"Tootie"
The personality of a small school changes every few years driven by the times, the faculty, and the students who are attending the school. In the early sixties at Clements, located in western Limestone County of northern Alabama, the Beatles had just become known, no one had yet heard the word hippie, and JFK had just been assassinated the year before. One of the pretty girls, if not the prettiest, at Clements in that era was Tootie Barker -- how she came about acquiring the name Tootie, I don't remember knowing. Probably every boy around from junior high through college age had a crush on her. One of the nice things about her was that she gave no hint that she was vain about her appearance. She was just Tootie, a student, a cheerleader, a member of the senior class of 1963/1964. Life was full of promise. Tootie had already had several sisters graduate from Clements, one Peggy Sue a few years earlier, and one coming up after her, Judy. There was no reason to be concerned. She would follow her sisters out into life after high school and remember fondly those years at Clements. But occasionally in life something goes terribly wrong. Tootie started having headaches in the late winter of that year. The doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and gave her the usual radiation treatment of that time but it was too late. She only survived a few months after the diagnoses. I remember how unreal and sad the funeral seemed and the trip to the cemetery afterward. It has been over forty years since she left us but I know every now and then each one of us that knew her in those bygone years will pause to remember the classmate, sister, friend whose life was cut short.
(Contributed by Wayne Rose)
Published in The News Courier, Athens, Alabama, April 1964
Miss Linda Jane Barker, 17, died at 9:30 p.m. Monday at her residence in Athens. She had been suffering a brain tumor for several months.
Miss Barker was a student at Clements High School and was a lifelong resident of Limestone County.
Linda was the daughter of Redus P. Barker and Ruby Pauline (Ball) Barker, of Athens.
Surviving are her parents; six sisters, Barbara Christopher, Jo Ann Carter, Pauline Baker, Betty Faye Bolton, Peggy Sue Mitchell and Judy Gail Barker; and one brother, Phillip Michael Barker.
She was preceded in death by one brother, James Oscar Barker who died in 1937.
The personality of a small school changes every few years driven by the times, the faculty, and the students who are attending the school. In the early sixties at Clements, located in western Limestone County of northern Alabama, the Beatles had just become known, no one had yet heard the word hippie, and JFK had just been assassinated the year before. One of the pretty girls, if not the prettiest, at Clements in that era was Tootie Barker -- how she came about acquiring the name Tootie, I don't remember knowing. Probably every boy around from junior high through college age had a crush on her. One of the nice things about her was that she gave no hint that she was vain about her appearance. She was just Tootie, a student, a cheerleader, a member of the senior class of 1963/1964. Life was full of promise. Tootie had already had several sisters graduate from Clements, one Peggy Sue a few years earlier, and one coming up after her, Judy. There was no reason to be concerned. She would follow her sisters out into life after high school and remember fondly those years at Clements. But occasionally in life something goes terribly wrong. Tootie started having headaches in the late winter of that year. The doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and gave her the usual radiation treatment of that time but it was too late. She only survived a few months after the diagnoses. I remember how unreal and sad the funeral seemed and the trip to the cemetery afterward. It has been over forty years since she left us but I know every now and then each one of us that knew her in those bygone years will pause to remember the classmate, sister, friend whose life was cut short.
(Contributed by Wayne Rose)
Published in The News Courier, Athens, Alabama, April 1964
Miss Linda Jane Barker, 17, died at 9:30 p.m. Monday at her residence in Athens. She had been suffering a brain tumor for several months.
Miss Barker was a student at Clements High School and was a lifelong resident of Limestone County.
Linda was the daughter of Redus P. Barker and Ruby Pauline (Ball) Barker, of Athens.
Surviving are her parents; six sisters, Barbara Christopher, Jo Ann Carter, Pauline Baker, Betty Faye Bolton, Peggy Sue Mitchell and Judy Gail Barker; and one brother, Phillip Michael Barker.
She was preceded in death by one brother, James Oscar Barker who died in 1937.
