Frances Ellen Barker

FRANCES ELLEN BARKER, affectionately known by her family as ”Sis”, born November 30, 1942. Beloved Wife, Mother, Sister, Aunt, Friend & Servant. Ellen passed away on Friday February 17th, 2023 at UT Hospital. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday March 4th 3:30 – 5:00 pm Grandview Pavilion. Short service at 3:30, followed by a time of Fellowship. Strong, Humble, Honest, Selfless, Devoted, Thoughtful, Faithful, Wise, and Loving Christ-follower. She was all these things and so much more. She loved her family deeply and was married to her high school sweetheart, Maxie Barker for over 56 years. After her Alzheimer's diagnosis, Maxie took extremely good care of her until her final breath. At 17, she began working at the hospital and immediately loved healthcare. It was her way of helping others daily.  She quickly realized that Nursing was her calling from God, and she approached her work as such every day, for over 40 years, working in surgery at Blount Memorial Hospital, Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, and the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.  She was very creative and enjoyed nothing more than time in her garden. Bringing beauty and life through flora was a gift she loved to share with family and friends. She rarely showed up at any gathering without a sweet bouquet from her garden. It was one of many ways her thoughtfulness manifested itself in the lives of those she cared about. She loved helping others and volunteering with her church and a variety of local non-profit organizations, but always in the background, never desiring credit or attention for herself, but rather that the motivation of her heart was always to transform someone else’s life for the better. She was preceded in death by her parents Frances & Cliff Hampton, two brothers Jack & Larry Hampton, younger sister Connie Smith, special aunts & uncles Nina & Ray Lemons, Blanche & Lowell Armstrong and great niece Miranda. She is survived by husband Maxie Barker, daughter Missy Barker Johnson, son Billy Barker and wife Stacy Barker, grandchildren Carly Brooke & Cannon Johnson, Corum & Dustin Sanford, and great-grand daughter Amari Sanford, sister Pat Burnette, a special cousin who was like a sister Martha Petty, along with several special nieces and nephews Tim & Sharon Hampton, Wayne Hampton, Terri Hampton Schmitz, Vance Burnette, Denise Caughorn, Marty Gaines, Angie Tipton & Suzanne Petty, Rhonda Harkleroad and Keela Honeycutt. In lieu of flowers, please join us in pursuing a cure for Alzheimer's, by donating to this year’s Alzheimer’s Tennessee, Foothills Memory Walk April 15h at Maryville College. Our Team Name: #EllenWon https://alztn.securesweet.com/teampage.asp?fundid=30617  Cremation by Grandview 865-738-0244 www.cremationbygrandview.com