Profile: Kathy Barnhart

By Dawne Belloise

Kathy Barnhart started down the path of volunteerism at a charity hospital when she was sweet 16. They were so short-staffed at the hospital that the kids were trained to do far more than most teen volunteers. “We weren’t just passing out magazines, we were actually emptying bed pans,” she tells and adds that she couldn’t believe how much they were entrusted with. “We were doing really cool stuff compared to the kid volunteers at other hospitals.” She did that for a couple of summers before deciding it was time to actually earn some money.

Born in Chicago, Kathy’s family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, when she was only four years old. Her childhood days were spent on bikes with lots of freedom and hanging with the zillion other neighborhood kids. Summers were hot and thick with mosquitoes, she recalls, and like lots of kids back in those days, before anyone knew the dangers of DDT, they’d run behind the mosquito fogging trucks. In general, Kathy says hers was, “that kind of childhood that was loose, loud and outdoors.” In high school, Kathy says she found a new batch of friends beyond the neighborhood, “who are still my best friends.”

Kathy graduated from high school in 1966 and enrolled at the University of Houston because, she laughs, “I did that brilliant thing,” which was following her older boyfriend who was headed to graduate school there. That relationship was short-lived when after two months he joined the Peace Corps and left for Africa to avoid the draft as the Vietnam War was raging at the time. But it was during her senior year at college that she met Clif on a blind date. He was a medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where, “the parties were pretty wild.” They dated about four years and married in 1974.

Kathy graduated with a degree in education in 1970. Her first teaching job came right out of college, during the tumultuous years of school integration. She recalls that busing wasn’t working, so districts began placing more white teachers in traditionally African American schools. She was assigned to teach fourth grade at Hillard Elementary in Houston’s Fifth Ward. “They had put all the slower pupils in my class, and I had kids who were almost nonreaders, so I had to devise my own curriculum. I had to start at ground zero with them.” There were hard days, she recalls. “There were days I drove home in tears.” But she won over staff and administration, and most importantly, the students. “I loved the students.” Kathy stayed on for three years.

Kathy was hired into a new reading program in Galveston. She loved the work so much she decided to specialize. While Clif completed his residency at the University of Missouri, she entered a rare graduate program in reading and learning disabilities at the University of Missouri in Columbia and earned her master’s degree in 1978. During that time, she discovered she was pregnant with their daughter, Melanie, born in 1976. After residency they began looking for a home, and realizing that Fort Worth didn’t call to them, they chose San Antonio. “I loved it,” Kathy says. “The kids grew up and graduated from high school there.”

Kathy’s career evolved. She worked for a child psychologist administering IQ tests, which her graduate training had certified her to do. Then she taught reading at a Catholic girls’ high school. “I was scared of the nuns,” she admits with a grin. “There were a couple of nuns that I thought, I’m not crossing their path, they’re scary.” With her expertise, she often received the struggling students. “If you have my specialty, you get all the problem kids. They are having a rough time and they are being teased.” Many of those kids had dyslexia. The job required creativity and Kathy had to devise her own teaching methods and curriculum because they learn a different way. But still, she says, “It was a good job that I enjoyed.” Eventually, she reached a turning point and wanted to spend more time involved with her own kids and their activities, “and that’s sort of when my volunteer career began.”

In San Antonio, she threw herself into service on the Medical Alliance Board and eventually became its president. She didn’t stop there, she also served on the San Antonio Symphony board, Meals on Wheels, volunteered at her children’s schools and at the Children’s Shelter. “Kids were always sort of my weakness,” she says.

Meanwhile, she discovered a love of skiing. Early in their marriage, she and Clif had learned to ski at Purgatory and joined group ski trips, visiting resorts across the country. On one of those trips, they were introduced to Crested Butte. In 1980, with their two-year-old son Colin in tow, they came to look at a timeshare condo on Cement Creek. “It was 48 years ago, and Tony’s Conoco was the only place to buy gas and there was a pay phone at the Four-Way.” They bought into the timeshare with friends and began visiting during both winter and summer. “We discovered we loved it in the summer,” but work limited them to about a week at a time.

By 1996, they were ready to take a leap of faith and bought a lot in Skyland. They built their home there in 1998. “It was a bit of a stretch to buy that lot, but it turned out it was truly a leap of faith and a good deal.” She spent long summers there while Clif commuted as his work allowed. In 2007, the Barnharts moved back to Galveston, tired of San Antonio traffic and drawn to the island’s small-town feel. “It’s very laid back with a small-town vibe. It has beautiful old homes and a rich history. We like being by the beach, we go boating and fishing and take walks on the beach. Summers are brutal on the Gulf Coast but that’s what Crested Butte is for. We finally reached a point where our jobs were such that we could live here all summer.”

In 2000, Kathy retired from paid work. “I’m a bit hyper so I need to do things. Volunteering gave me structure and it’s rewarding, so for me it’s wonderful.” Her impact in the Gunnison Valley has been wide and steady. She joined the Center for the Arts when Tour de Forks was just beginning and eventually organized the summer event as well as serving on its board. She helped distribute grants and later rejoined during the campaign to build the new Center. Kathy also served on the Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley and became its events chair. Then she was asked to chair the annual summer gala for the Gunnison Valley Health Foundation, raising funds for a desperately needed EMS facility in Gunnison. Each gala in two years brought in $1 million, which funded the building. “EMS is a critical part of our health care system in the valley,” Kathy feels.

They spend winters and summers in the mountains now, staying until the autumn creeps in, and return to Texas in late fall through spring, but Kathy emphasizes that, “Crested Butte is our most favorite place on earth.” She turned in her downhill skis last year and laughs that she decided to, “basically quit while I was ahead,” but she still loves Nordic skiing. Kathy says she’s always been a hiker and spends summer days trekking. “I hike, hike, hike and then hike some more.” Volunteering is a way of life for Kathy and her way of giving back. “I love to give my time and do more for this community. The more I can do for this community that I love, the better.”