This week I mourn the passing of one of my heroes.

Minnie Holley Barnes, at 96, was one of those special people that I and many others consider to be a role model for the youth of all races.

Miss Minnie, as she was known to those who really knew her, believed that if you had a dream and you worked hard you would be able to achieve any goal you set for yourself.

She taught generations of children this philosophy as much through example as through words.

She believed in education and that anyone could better themselves through their education.

She worked for her own education at a time in our nation's history when education for those of her race was not readily available. She was not a person to let anything stand in her way. She earned many higher degrees from a system that placed many roadblocks in her way including a Master of Arts from Columbia University.

Miss Minnie was a great educator, first as a teacher in one room schools, later as a teacher to the deaf and blind in West Virginia and after her "retirement" filling in where she was needed as a substitute and homebound teacher in Tazewell County.

She was also well known in her church, Wilbur Memorial Methodist, and in the Girl Scout community.

I met Miss Minnie as a Girl Scout. She was my sister. When she taught new scouts or their leaders about their promise and laws of Girl Scouting that was one phrase that you were sure to learn. All Girl Scouts are sisters regardless of age, religion, nationality or race.

You were also sure to learn a lot more. She was proud of being a Girl Scout leader and she firmly believed that the program could help produce women who were ready to take their place as leaders in the world of the future.

She had the talent of being able to give little girls a sense of pride in themselves no matter their race, economic status, or physical beauty.

She had been presented many awards in her lifetime including the Girl Scout Thanks Badge which is usually presented by the recipient's council. Miss Minnie's award was presented by the National Organization because of the quality of her contributions. She also has been included in Who's Who of American Women and received the Virginia Education Association Award through it's Minority Caucus. In 1982 she was named a Girl Scout Woman of History.

But to Miss Minnie her greatest awards came in the letters and phone calls from her former students and Girl Scouts. Every accomplishment of those whose lives she touched were in many ways her accomplishments.

When I first met Miss Minnie she had not yet turned eighty. I was amazed at her rapport with the young girls and how she could dance, play and sing with them.

Even after she decided that she could no longer take an active part with the girls, due to her advanced age, she would still attend special events or spend a few hours at a day camp teaching the traditional songs and games to the girls.

At one such camp she amazed us all by singing a song with the girls that had motions. This particular song had the girls and Miss Minnie singing, reaching over their heads and then touching their toes at an ever increasing speed. Few of the leaders and many of the girls could not keep up with her but Miss Minnie was not even out of breath when the song ended.

One of my favorite Miss Minnie stories deals with my eldest daughter Sarah.

During her first year in Girl Scouts, Miss Minnie was one of Sarah's Brownie leaders. When Girl Scout Week arrived she told all the little girls of her first Girl Scout troop that had been composed of blind and deaf girls. The troop had gained national attention and when Girl Scout Week came that year her troop had received a piece of the Silver Jubilee cake. This was a great honor for the girls and their leader.

Years later, when Girl Scouts celebrated their seventy-fifth anniversary, Sarah applied to attend the national celebration in Washington.

Her application included an essay telling of Miss Minnie's pride in her Silver Jubilee experience and how she was passing that experience on fifty years later. She also wrote that she hoped that she would be given the opportunity to have her own experience and in years to come be able to pass it on to new generations of Girl Scouts -- along with the story of Miss Minnie.

Sarah was one of those who were chosen to attend not only the celebration in Washington DC but also to attend the dedication of the new Girl Scout postage stamp. Now she shares that experience with her Junior Girl Scout Troop in Kentucky.

That is also an award for Miss Minnie.