Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

September 1, 2023

CHARLOTTE – Barbara Nelson McKenzie Scott left this world for her eternal life during the early morning hours of Friday, September 1, 2023.   She was a fiercely independent, tender-hearted woman who led a storied life, full of wonderful memories for her family and friends to cherish. 

Born May 3, 1943, to William “Bill” Nelson and Anne Shuford McKenzie, her parents brought Barbara home to meet her older sister Anne, affectionately known as Rooney. They lived on Bill’s family farm in Gibson, NC. 

Tragically, Barbara and Rooney’s “Daddy Bill” died in 1945 at age 36 from cancer.  But the angels soon intervened, bringing a show-tunes-loving, sharply dressed WWII veteran named William Gaston McBryde into their lives. Gaston married Anne in 1949 and became the girls’ “Daddy Gag.” Over the years, the family joked that Gaston secretly married Anne just to become a daddy to those girls he cherished.

Barbara attended Scotland High School in Laurinburg, NC and played flute in the Flying Scots marching band. She transferred to Stuart Hall High School in Staunton, VA and graduated in 1961. She attended St. Mary’s Junior College in Raleigh, NC, graduating in 1963.  She then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she joined Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and graduated in 1965 with a political science degree.  Barbara was ready to change the world.

This young woman from rural Scotland County then stunned her family by joining the Peace Corps and flying to Panama to teach English in rural communities to the native Spanish speaking residents. 

While in Panama, a mutual friend introduced Barbara McKenzie to James MacKenzie Scott, a handsome military officer stationed there.  The friend called them “tocayos,” or “same names,” since they shared the McKenzie/MacKenzie in common. Over the following decades, Barbara would (half) jokingly declare that she – not Jim – had the correct spelling of the name. 

After a long-distance courtship and engagement, the couple married in Laurinburg, NC on February 22, 1969.  Barbara was a great support to Jim throughout his remarkable military career, which included assignments in Ft. Leavenworth, KS; Ft. Belvoir, VA where their first daughter, Margaret was born; San Juan, Puerto Rico, during which time they welcomed their daughter Kathy; and Fairfax, VA while Jim worked at the Pentagon.  Jim retired from the Army in 1978 and the family moved to Blowing Rock, NC where Barbara’s parents and grandparents spent their summers enjoying the cool mountain air.

After years on the move with Jim’s military career, Barbara could finally put down some roots. They built a home and Barbara poured herself into the family’s life in the community.  She and Jim were active at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church where she sang in the choir.  She was a Girl Scout troop leader and always put her hand up when volunteers were needed.  The couple became Realtors and founded Stonehaven, a local real estate company.

The family moved to Charlotte in 1985 for Jim’s new job.  Barbara taught Spanish in a local elementary school, and the family joined Myers Park Presbyterian Church. 

They moved again in 1989 for Jim’s work, this time to Greensboro.  Barbara continued to teach Spanish and then became a certified tax preparer for H&R Block.  She found purpose in her volunteer work at First Presbyterian Church, especially with the Room at the Inn ministry. 

The 20 years Barbara and Jim lived in Greensboro made it, by far, the longest they’d lived anywhere. They forged a strong group of friends, whom Barbara enjoyed hosting and entertaining.  She nurtured a beautiful lawn and garden at their home.  They enjoyed travelling, as well as attending theatrical and musical performances. 

They also kept strong ties to Blowing Rock and spent as much time there as possible, especially in the summers. They reconnected with longtime friends in the mountains, joined Blowing Rock Country Club, and Barbara began volunteering with the Blowing Rock Community Foundation.

Barbara and Jim moved back to Charlotte in 2013 to be closer to their daughters and their families, which ultimately included three grandsons who brought them great joy.  In 2018, they moved to Southminster Retirement Community.  Jim died in 2020, after a valiant fight with stage 4 prostate cancer.

Barbara’s love language was definitely acts of service, especially through cooking.  She was known as “Mama Scott” to countless friends of her daughters, who knew that something yummy always awaited them when they came by for a visit.  Barbara later delivered homemade goodies to them when they became adults and had their own children.  In her later years when she no longer had the gusto to cook, she would still show affection for people by giving away jars of apple butter from the NC mountains.

Barbara’s family will be forever grateful to the marvelous caregivers and support staff at Southminster, who truly cared for her and Jim, and treated them like family.

Barbara is survived by her loving and dedicated daughters, Margaret Lawrence and her husband, Jamie and Kathy Rummage and her husband, Abe and three wonderful grandsons, Gavin, Brodie and Mack.  Also surviving are her devoted sister, Anne McKenzie; cousin-sister, Vicky Armes; brother-in-law, Richard Scott and his wife, Maryann; sister-in-law, Virginia Gross and her husband, Richard; and a multitude of loving cousins, nieces, nephews, and dear friends. 

Barbara’s ashes will be interred beside Jim’s during a private service with immediate family at Woodlawn Cemetery in Blowing Rock, NC.  The family will hold two memorial services celebrating Barbara’s life in the coming weeks.  The first will be at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 16, 2023, in the chapel at Southminster Retirement Community, 8919 Park Road, Charlotte, NC, followed by a light reception.  The second will be at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 23, 2023, in the stone chapel at Rumple Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1218 Main Street, Blowing Rock, NC, followed by a light reception.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be offered in memory of Barbara to the Blowing Rock Community Foundation, PO Box 525, Blowing Rock, NC 28605 or (www.BlowingRockCF.org).

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.