Patricia (Anderson) Barnett

Patricia A. Barnett, 82, died at her family residence in Nacogdoches May 18, 2022. A number of ailments at last stilled her fierce and loving heart. Donald Wayne Barnett, her husband since Valentine’s Day 1957, went home first, 12 years ago.

Pat sprang from the Blackland Prairie hamlet of Kerens with five sisters and a brother. Her parents, Helen and Jack Anderson, did their best to guide their second daughter, but the headstrong Pat would have her way. Leading the Bobcats as twirler and majorette put her in the spotlight. She found she liked it there.

Pat’s self-confidence made her sure of many things, not least her love for a handsome roughneck who had also grown up in Kerens. A strapping derrickman who wrestled drill pipe into place atop the rig’s tower, Don never had a chance. A whirlwind romance led to wedding vows. Nine months later came a son, Donald Blake. Son Barry Craig and daughter Melanie Leigh followed in 1959 and 1966.

After the family quit the oilfield for the piney woods of Nacogdoches 63 years ago, Pat and Don became pillars of the community. Pat worked many years as secretary at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, taught Sunday school, served on the Session, sang in the choir, and rarely missed a worship service. She also managed Dr. Larry Walker’s office while earning a B.A. degree at Stephen F. Austin State University. In 1999, she began a 20-year stint strengthening the Music Prep program at SFA as its Director. Don meanwhile also graduated from SFA, managed food services for the university, served as coach and scoutmaster, and made many friends. Together Pat and Don built a family that works in art, law, and business. They collectively have six degrees from Yale; three from SFA; two from Harvard; and one each from Columbia, Emory, and the University of Texas.

Pat’s older sister Pam Morris passed away in 2021. Pat is survived by son Blake and daughter Melanie of Nacogdoches; son Barry and his wife Nancy Barnett of Dallas; sister Peggy Schneider and her husband Reverend Dave of Fort Worth; sister Priscilla Clore of Waxahachie; brother John Alexander Anderson, IV, and his wife Cathy of Shreveport; sister Jean Williams and her husband Ron of Nacogdoches; sister Joan Taylor and her husband Kim of Nacogdoches; granddaughter Caroline Reeve and her husband Nate of Houston; grandson James Barnett of Dallas; grandson Chase Barnett of Houston; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

A graveside service at the Oak Grove Cemetery near Kerens will be held on May 28, 2022. A Celebration of Life and reception are planned for September at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nacogdoches. Pat’s family requests that anyone who wishes to commemorate her do so by contributing in her name to SFA’s Music Preparatory Division, by mail or in person at the Music Prep House, 3028 Raguet Street, Nacogdoches, Texas 75965, or online at sfamusicprep.com.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.casonmonk-metcalf.com for the Barnett family.