ESTILL DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE
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  • Home
  • Live
    • Community Events
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • History
    • Culture >
      • River City Players
    • Relocation >
      • Location
      • Services Directory
    • Insider
    • Youth Report
  • Work
    • Business Retention & Expansion Program
    • Chamber of Commerce
    • Government
    • Starting a Business in Estill County
    • Demographics
  • Lead
    • Leadership LEAP
    • Estill Action Group
    • Estill County Captains
  • Visit
    • Dining
    • Accomodations
    • Recreation >
      • Lily Mountain Nature Preserve
      • Trails
      • Veteran's Memorial Park
    • Historic Sites >
      • Cottage Furnace
      • Fitchburg Furnace
    • Events >
      • Mountain Mushroom Festival
      • Railroad Festival
      • Moonlight Market
      • Rock the River Town
  • About EDA
    • Gimme 5!
    • Contact Us
    • Join/Donate
    • Core Projects
    • Photo Gallery
    • Hall of Honor
    • Board of Directors

Virginia Walker

Virginia Barnes was born on January14, 1927 to Hood and Feora Hamilton Barnes.  She grew up on Miller’s creek around her father’s general store and post office.  The Barnes family, in addition to Virginia and her sister Joyce, had three sons, James, Howard and Oakley.

Education has defined much of Virginia’s life.  Her mother, in addition to duties as a wife, mother, store clerk and postmistress was an elementary teacher at Mount Tabor, the one room school about a half mile down the road from her home toward Pryse.  Her mother took Virginia to school early. She remembers that Mount Tabor had no electricity and only outside toilets.  “It was very dark on cloudy days.  A coal stove provided heat. You got too hot if you sat too close to the stove and very cold if you sat at any distance from it.” Like most girls, she learned to cook, clean and sew at home.

High school was a stressful time, particularly because of World War II.  Her brother was a Marine in numerous battles and her uncle was killed in Italy. In addition, her grandfather died on the first day of her junior year and her grandmother was bedridden the rest of that same year. After high school, Virginia tried Bryan Strator Business College in Louisville, but came home in three or four weeks.  She could not relate to “hateful teachers who were prejudiced against women students.  The boys could get extra help, but not the girls.”

She was not home very long before Mamie Scott, Estill County Superintendent, recruited her to “fill” as a teacher on emergency certificate at Witt Springs School on Sand Hill. As she continued teaching, she rode a Black Brothers bus to Eastern for night and summer classes, eventually earning both B.S. and M.S. degrees and Rank I Certification. In 1947, Virginia went back to Mount Tabor as one of two teachers.  She enlisted the help of the parents to make some major changes.  They had pie suppers to raise money. The Masonic Lodge upstairs was made into classrooms for grades 1 thru 4.  Electricity was installed, the walls were painted a light color and shades were put on the windows. Electricity meant lights and a water cooler for the children. The pie supper money also meant that gravel could be used for walks. Having less mud lightened the janitorial duties for the teachers.  Virginia also taught a Cow Creek, Ravenna Elementary, Hargett and Kings Mills, Ohio.  In 1975 Superintendent Billy White Davis asked her to move to the Central office as the Title 1 Coordinator. She retired form this job in 1985.

During the time Virginia was riding the bus to EKU, she sometimes had to wait for her father to pick her up in Ravenna.  Martha May’s drug store was a great place to drink a cool fountain Coke and pass time, even helping out with package wrapping and errands.  There she met a dashing military man named Bob Walker and a great love story began.  After Bob retired from the Army, he became a partner in the Ravenna Drug Store, a volunteer fireman, served as a deputy sheriff and as Chief of the Irvine Police Department until his death in 1989.

Both Bob and Virginia loved parties.  Christmas and eighth grade graduation parties were held at the drug store until they finished their home in Edgewood Estates.  Then the parties followed them, getting larger every year.  Her angle food cakes, pies and cookies have been shared with many people, especially the police and fire departments, Bob’s mother, Martha may and Charlie Vanhuss.

“I have met a lot of wonderful students, teachers and co-workers.  I will never forget them.  I appreciate all of my family and friends for always being there when I needed them,” commented Virginia Walker.

Ron Lutes served as Virginia’s pastor at Mount Sinai Christian Church and become part of her extended family.  Of Virginia, he said, “She is totally concerned about church and community.  She wants the truth and acts ’by the book’.  She wants the best for Estill County and the Irvine-Ravenna Woman’s Club Scholarship committee. More people ought to follow her example."

About Us

(c) 2022 Estill County 21st Century, Inc.
177 Broadway
PO Box 421
Irvine, KY 40336
(606) 723-2450

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Our Staff is currently teleworking due to COVID-19. Please email joe@estill.org or jessica@estill.org with any needs.