Nita, age 102 3/4, passed away peacefully Friday, July 4, 2025, in Great Falls, Montana, with her were her daughter, Nancy, and her Grandson, John. Bardstown, KY is where this remarkable woman was born on September 16th, 1922. 7 miles from Bardstown and 40 miles from Louisville on the farm in Botland, KY. Her family moved to Louisville when she was 1 year old. She was the daughter of Columbus Roy Barnes, 29, and Ella Mae Hart, 15. Her father was a police officer with the Louisville PD.
After graduating from Louisville Girls High in 1940, she went on to work at the Reynolds Aluminum Company and worked there before and during WW11. She met her future husband, Charles C Hampton, lifeguard and football player, at the community swimming pool. Before he was shipped off to go overseas during the war, they were married, and had their first daughter, Sandra Leigh Hampton, before Charlie returned home to Louisville. They welcomed their second daughter into this world in 1947 upon his return from the war, Nancy Ann Hampton. Nita and Charlie remained married from 1941 to 1956, ending in divorce.
From 1957 through 1963, Nita was married to John D Nourse, moving herself, Sandy and Nancy to Walla Walla, Washington. She got a job working at a doctor's office for Children’s Clinic, 1958-1963, in Walla Walla. She loved her job, and it allowed her to be home right after her children got home from school. Nita was a woman who loved detail, working with figures and being in an office. She continued her involvement in anything creative and excelled in painting, she had an honorable mention at the fairgrounds one year with one of her oil paintings. She was an excellent cook from scratch, Nita loved sewing and decorating, and she was an avid reader. Nita also loved playing bridge and canasta. She kept the “show house home” and became increasingly involved in her appreciation of nice clothes and appreciation of good friends. However, the marriage was just not going to last…and it didn’t.
In 1963, she had to go to a convention for training in insurance in Washington State, and a police officer from Great Falls, Mt was also attending a convention. It was not the same convention, but that's where they met. Mother was married to the love of her life, Jack Harry Anderson, on January 12th, 1963, in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. People said it wouldn't last but let me tell you... it did. They were as solid as a rock all those years. When Dad/ Jack had his aneurysm and had to retire from the Police station, she never missed a beat 28 years. She stood by his side after that aneurysm, giving him the best of care in therapy and treatment day in and day out. Throughout 17 months at Peace Hospice House, she slept in his room and took care of him. They celebrated their 50th Anniversary in Hospice. One of her proudest accomplishments was being his caregiver and loving wife to the end.
Mother was very proud of her 20 years working for Travelers’ Insurance as their supervisor in Travelers’ Insurance Group Health Claims Department. She worked there from September 1963 through January 1st of 1983.
Nita remained actively engaged in all her passions well into her 102nd year of life. Remarkably, she even continued driving until the age of 102. She especially enjoyed playing Rubik’s Cube with her grandson, John, who was deeply devoted to her.
Nita leaves behind her daughter, Nancy Ann Hampton, and her grandson, John Charles Hampton in Montana; grandson, Wayne Scott Smiley and his family in Colorado; granddaughter, Cheri Becker; grandson, Michael Ackerman, and both their families and extended families in Kentucky and around the country. She also leaves behind numerous loving cousins in Kentucky, and their extended families, and one stepson and two stepdaughters, and their extended families.
Nita’s favorite book was the Bible, and her favorite quotation, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
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