Family and friends packed the chapel at Family Heritage Funeral Home on Sunday to pay their final respects to Connie Barker.

The widely loved community activist and wife of former Sheriff Bob Barker passed away Thursday morning after a long bout with cancer, about 22 months after her husband died from cancer.

They were both 55 years old at the time of their deaths.

“They were inseparable,” said Dan Downs, a long-time friend of the couple.

“They were both pillars in the community,” he said. “They would do anything they could for anybody. They both really had a heart for the people of the community. The community will not be the same without them.”

Tony Allers, who is now the head of the Gallatin Codes and Planning Department, said he was a family friend of the Barker's for about 30 years.

“Our kids grew up together,” Allers said Thursday. “She was an incredibly unselfish person and incredibly devoted to her family and friends.”

“Bob used to be a motorcycle cop in Hendersonville and Connie worked in insurance,” Allers said. “Bob would do carpet work in his free time and Connie worked at a restaurant in Rivergate polishing silverware at night so they could provide for their six kids – take them on trips and stuff. She was just an incredible lady.”

“She was a good woman who was big on her family and big on giving back to the community, just like Bob was, said Sumner County Sheriff Sonny Weatherford. “Even before Bob was sheriff, they both liked to give a lot back to the community. She was always working with several different civic and community groups.”

Mrs. Barker was active in a number of community organizations, including Friends of Rock Castle, Rosemont, Cragfont, The Women's Club of Hendersonville, Gallatin Day Care and area senior citizen’s centers.

She was also active in the Hendersonville Samaritan Association and was named the organization’s 2010 Samaritan of the Year.

The Barkers were also animal activists and the Sumner County Animal Control facility is named after the couple.

“If you went out the back door of the funeral home, you could see the 'Bob and Connie Barker Animal Control Facility,' and it opened one year ago from her visitation,” Allers said. “One year ago, we were there opening that facility.”

Connie Barker was born September 14, 1956 in Gallatin, the daughter of the late Mark Shaw and Evelyn Hackett Tuttle.

She is survived by her four daughters, Brandy Warner of Gallatin, Jacey Birch (David) of Myrtle Beach, SC, Gillian Fields (Shelby) of Oceanside, CA and Sarah Horan (Tony) of Lebanon, and her grandchildren, Katie Warner, Riley Warner, Tyler Bellars, Autumn Fields, Emmalee Fields, Andy Horan, Kaiya Horan, Evie Horan, Sicily Horan, Isla Horan and Luca Horan.