(JUNEAU) - Today the Alaska House of Representatives dedicated the House Resources Room to a longtime Alaskan Legislator, the late Ramona Barnes.

Representative Pete Kott (R-Eagle River) was pleased to be a part of the event. He said, "Ramona was second to none in her respect and love for this institution and the building itself. I am proud that the legislature took this step in naming the House Resources Committee Room after someone who dedicated so many years to making Alaska what it is today."

The room will house memorabilia from Ramona's life, including a portion of her collection of elephants. An inscribed plaque that will hang outside the House Resources Committee Room in the Capitol reads in part, "...Representative Barnes strongly supported the development of the state's resources and the creation of jobs, the Alaska Court System, innovative programs for corrections, and promoting the 'Last Frontier.' Her colleagues remember Representative Barnes as exceptionally knowledgeable of legislative rules and procedures, as a person who used that knowledge effectively in debate on public issues, as someone who respected the dignity of each of the leadership positions she held, honoring the traditions and elevating the status of each of them, and as a member who always upheld the traditions of the Alaska House of Representatives as an institution."

"Ramona was the keeper of the House, the guardian of its customs, traditions and of the body itself. It is a pleasure to dedicate this room to the memory of this great Alaskan," said House Rules Chairman Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage).

Representative Barnes was the longest serving woman legislator in Alaskan history, during which time she held every legislative leadership position, including Majority Leader, Minority Leader, Minority Whip and was the first female Speaker of the House in Alaska.

Members of Ramona's family, including her two sons, Michael and Randall Barnes and her brother and sister-in-law Leonard and Linda Wheeler from Winchester, Tennessee attended the event. Also present were longtime friends and staff members Eleanor Wolfe and Bill Sykes and his wife Sandra. Speakers at the event included Representative Rokeberg, Representative Kott, Lt. Governor Loren Leman, Senator John Cowdery (R-Anchorage), Representative Ethan Berkowitz (D-Anchorage), former Administrative Director of the Alaska Court System Art Snowden and close friends Barbara Huff and Bill Allen.

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