Ronna Lynn Barrett

In a small house, surrounded by cotton fields just outside of Bakersfield, California, a beautiful and vivacious woman was raised. Her name was Ronna Graves. She was born on June 23, 1950 in Taft, California. The world became a better place because of it. At an early age Ronna showed herself as a talented young lady. Her humble beginnings allowed her to relish in her lifelong love affair with horses, cats and a host of family who adored her. A gifted artist, Ronna taught herself to paint portraits and landscapes of the people and things she loved. She wrapped herself in music, learning to play many instruments throughout her life. As a teenager she took to the stage and was awarded for her acting ability. She played clarinet in the marching band. Smart and charismatic, she enjoyed school and made many friends. A free spirit, never one to be shy, she broke from fashion norms and was the first to tease her hair, sport go-go boots and miniskirts. After High School, Ronna married Jerry and gave birth to her only natural born son, Travis Wilemon. She was a wonderful mother. As time went on she came to remarry and became mother to Tammy and Freddy Clevenger. She and her husband, Fred settled on a farm outside of town to raise a family. In her time alone, she practiced photography and became the family genealogist. She soon started her own business from home. She discovered she had a green thumb and spent the rest of her life bringing withering flora back to life. Her joy of nature spurned her to raise ducks, pheasants and chicken hawks. Ronna's home was constantly filled with the busy sounds of life. Her door was always open, few weekends or summer nights went by without her floor being cluttered with the bodies of her sleeping nephews tired from a day of childhood escape given to them by a gracious aunt. Once her children had grown to adulthood, Ronna remarried. She and Fred Barrett began what was to be the short, but elegant end of her wonderful life. She moved to Modesto, California with Fred and spent her days looking down on a meadow bordered by a winding river. She enjoyed the whinny of horses and grazing cattle on the small ranch and wrote children's books, munched on chocolate chip cookies and sipped Pepsi. The bluegrass music played to the country air sounded sweet, but not so much as the woman who loved to hear it play. On December 11, 2011 Alzheimers took Ronna, she was 61.