PENSACOLA, Fla. — Barbara Marie Tucker McKinzie died peacefully in Pensacola, Fla., on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017, surrounded by the love of her three daughters, Marie Smith, Alice McKinzie, and Kaye McKinzie. She was born on Feb. 12, 1941, to Melvin and Ellen Tucker in Los Angeles, Calif.
Barbara graduated from St. John High School in 1959 and went on to receive her Associates of Arts degree in business from Florida Junior College in 1971; her Bachelors of Science in Accounting from the University of North Florida in 1973; and her Masters of Science in Management from Troy State University in 1987. She worked for the United States Navy for 21 years where she programmed in COBOL, Fortran, SQL, PL-SQL, and Oracle. She was considered a frontier breaker in computer science and was one of the original developers of the bar code system. She loved her work and was a passionate problem solver. She did all this while raising three daughters in three different countries moving on average every two years until she landed in Florida. But no matter how far she traveled, she always returned to St. John to maintain her devotion to family and friends who often visited her in Florida and on trips to the beach. She had grace and has been described as loving, kind, caring, funny, inspiring, meticulous, a role model to many, and was deeply committed to improving children’s lives.
She is survived by her three daughters, Marie McKinzie Smith (Zach), Alice McKinzie, and Kaye McKinzie (Catherine); her Yorkie dogs Lady Victoria, Lilly, and Lulu; her grandchildren Jebediah Smith and Sunshine Crowe; and great-grandchildren Colin Smith, Aeris Smith, Amadahy Crowe, Xander Smith, and Dyami Crowe. Their collective sorrow reflects their love for their amazing mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.
A celebration of her wonderful life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday at First Baptist Church in St. John. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to a charity of your choice that works to address literacy issues. Condolences to the family may be sent to www.fcfhs.com.
Funeral arrangements provided by
Faith Chapel Funeral Home South**
100 Beverly Pkwy
Pensacola, FL 32505
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, April 20, 2017
