Ramona Barnes

Ramona Lee Etta Barnes (; July 7, 1938 – November 26, 2003) was a Republican politician in the state of Alaska. She served in the Alaska House of Representatives for two periods spanning 1979 and 1985 and 1987 and 2001. She was the first female Speaker of the House in Alaska.

Early life Barnes was born on July 7, 1938, in Pikeville, Tennessee. Her father was Ellison Wheeler, a lawyer. She attended Bledsoe County High School in Tennessee and Waipahu Community College in Hawaii before graduating from Michigan State University. She married Larry Barnes in 1960, who was in the military, and the couple had three children: Randall, Michael and Michelle. The couple later divorced. She served as an undercover agent for the Central Intelligence Agency in the Philippines.

She was known for her tough stance, evidenced by the President of the Alaska Senate gifting her a set of brass balls. She was a member of the Anchorage Republican Women's Club, the National Federation of Republican Women, the Navy League and the National Rifle Association of America.

Death Barnes died on November 26, 2003, at the Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, from pneumonia caused by cancer. Her papers are held by the University of Alaska Anchorage.