Gretta Cunningham Barr, Music
Caddo Valley Academy
Miss Gretta Cunningham came to Norman as the music teacher for the new Caddo Valley Academy. The daughter of Presbyterian minister, John Newton and Lucy Sheldon (Eldredge) Cunningham, she was born on February 20, 1896 in Booneville, Missouri, though she often claimed to be a Texan. She graduated from college in Waskom, Texas.
She only served CVA as a teacher for one semester, because she married her boss on March 17, 1922, at Waskom, Texas, and she became Mrs. John T. Barr. Dr. Barr fired her and moved her into the Presbyterian Manse, where she lived the rest of her life.
Besides being an excellent pianist and music teacher, Gretta Barr was also an accomplished artist and enjoyed working with still-life watercolors.
Dr. and Mrs. Barr were the parents of two biological children, John T. III and Ruby Barr, and a son who died as an infant. However, they were surrogate parents to many hundreds who passed through Caddo Valley Academy, the childrens’ home, as well as offering supervision to countless others who were members or visitors of the Presbyterian Church.
Another love of Gretta’s was flowers. The manse and church were always aglow with beautiful, colorful flowers, and she also oversaw the gardens of the CVA campus, and the Zimmerman gardens on the hill behind the dormitories.
She did return to the classroom teaching English, music and Jr. Hi classes. She taught until 1956. It was about this time that she became ill and it was discovered that she had cancer. She underwent many unpleasant surgeries and suffered a great deal of pain before passing away on Jan. 27, 1959.