Obituary of Eloise McBride Barrett

Eloise McBride Barrett, 83, passed away January 24, 2013 in Nashville, TN. She was born August 14, 1929 in Lewisburg (Marshall County), Tennessee. Eloise was the daughter of Robert Lee (RL) McBride, Jr. and Martha Louise (Lucy) Crutcher McBride. Eloise graduated from Marshall County High School where she was Class of 1947 Valedictorian, Home Coming Queen and Senior Class Treasurer. She attended Ward Belmont College and then Vanderbilt University. She graduated from Vanderbilt in 1951 with a double major in Spanish and English, and a double minor in French and Business Administration. She was a member of the AOPi Sorority. In 1954, Eloise attended and graduated from The University of Dijon in France before moving to Bordeaux, France where she held a managerial role as a civilian employee working with the US Armed Forces. In 1957 a Master of Arts in French was conferred on Eloise from Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT. While attending Middlebury, she was awarded one of only two full tuition scholarships. She returned to Nashville in 1957 to marry and lived there the remainder of her life. She tutored French her entire life, to both the willing and otherwise, and was a full time mother to three daughters. Eloise loved all things French, fine cooking and the Arts. She was a member of the Alliance Francaise, the DAR, and the Centennial Club. She served as a Commissioner on the Tennessee Arts Commission, and subsequent to that on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. She attended cooking school at the Cordon Blue in Paris, France. Eloise is survived by her three daughters, Lucy (Rob) Thomason, Mary (Mark) Brewer and Katie (Joe) Cain, and eleven grandchildren: Matthew, Sarah Kate, and Betsy Brewer; Ben, Sam and Annie Thomason; Caitlin, Emily, Ashley, Megan and Joseph Cain; her former husband George E. Barrett; her sister, Martha McBride Loftin of Houston, TX and many nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 2, 2013 at 3:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Incarnation with a Wake to follow until 7 p.m. in the home of Mary and Mark Brewer, 3438 Hampton Ave, Nashville TN 37215. A private interment will be at a later date at Lone Oak Cemetery in Lewisburg, TN. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Eloise's memory to the Alliance Francaise de Nashville's Cultural and Educational Fund, P.O. Box 158646, Nashville, TN 37215, or online at afnashville.org.