TAMA- Mindey Mae Barker, age 27, of Ames, formerly of Tama and Iowa Falls, died Monday, June 23, 2008 at St. Anthony Hospital in Carroll, Iowa following a sudden illness. Funeral Services will be held on Friday, June 27, 2008 at 10:30 AM at Kruse-Phillips Funeral Home in Tama with Pastor Dewey Grimes officiating. Interment will follow at Haven Cemetery in rural Tama. Visitation will be held on Thursday, June 26, 2008 from 4 to 7 PM at Kruse-Phillips Funeral Home in Tama.
Mindey was born on December 26, 1980, in Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Lloyd Barker and Jamie (Clark) Whitham. She graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1998, Maui Community College in 2003, and Iowa State University in May of 2008. She was currently working on her doctorate degree at Iowa State. She was a research assistant at Iowa State and worked in customer service at CDS.
Mindey was a very giving person. She showed this in many ways such as having a sponsor child and buying Christmas dinner each year for a needy family along with presents for them. She also supported the giving tree at Wal-Mart each year. Buying Christmas gifts for her entire company while working in Hawaii, is another example of how giving she was. Her generosity was exhibited by her desire to set up scholarships for her family. Mindey was like a second mother to Devin and was loved by her many friends as she went through life. In keeping with her spirit of giving, Mindey was donating her hair annually to locks of love. She also enjoyed drag racing and liked to drive fast.
She was preceded in death by her grandfathers, Frank Clark and Lloyd Barker Sr.; and one cousin, Perry Skraastad.
Survivors include her parents, Jamie (Dan) Whitham of Luther and Lloyd Barker of Gilman; her grandmothers, Betty Clark of Tama and Joan (Lloyd) Ealy of Montour; three brothers, Lloyd Barker of Ames, Brad Barker of Des Moines and Devin Barker of Gilman; one sister, Courtney Gonzales of Boone; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.
A memorial fund has been established.