About Barbara Passmore
Barbara Kennedy Passmore, was born in Colquitt County on May 26, 1927, she was the daughter of the late Archibald Randolph Kennedy and Sarah Adelyn Dooley Kennedy. Barbara graduated from South Georgia State Normal College (now Valdosta State University) with a degree in Mathematics. While attending college, she met and married her husband of 58 years, William S. Passmore.
Barbara enjoyed a career in the legal profession, most notably with the Barham and Bennett Law Firm. In later years, she managed The Price-Campbell Foundation, during which she provided philanthropic support for the local community, including medical student scholarships, prison inmate educational programs, and funding for local artists and writers.
Her interests were varied. Barbara loved travel, birding, computers, art, music – basically everything. She had a lifelong passion for learning. She pursued graduate studies in English and, in her later years, she studied French at VSU.
Roberta George writes about Barbara Passmore
Valdosta and Lowndes County is a strange and interesting place. Someone looking on from the outside, coming to this town, might think it’s just a stopping spot on the way to Florida. But nothing could be farther from the truth. I’m continuously amazed at the talent of the individuals living here and the devotion of so many to the arts and sciences.
One such person was Barbara Passmore, now departed. It was my great privilege and honor to meet Barbara back when I was the Director at the Lowndes/Valdosta Arts Center. Wearing shorts, flip flops, and no makeup, she came to the back door late one evening, and though it was past closing time, we walked around and talked about the art that was hanging on the walls. Her husband was ailing, as was mine, so we had that in common.
As I was later to learn, Barbara along with John Bennett, through The Price Campbell Foundation, sponsored many art organizations, among them Snake Nation Press and their building on the corner of Force and Toombs. She and John were pleased and surprised to find a flourishing literary organization in Valdosta, publishing books from writers all over the world and holding literary events, readings, and classes just a block away from the Crescent.
Granted, the neighborhood is in dire need of revitalization, and making that area so close to The Turner Art Center and the University one to be proud of is part of the Snake Nation Press goal. As well as being a Literary Center, the building is of great local and historical value