Carey’s Barber named worthy grand matron

Marla Barber of Carey, a member of Warpole Chapter No. 366 OES of Upper Sandusky was elected and installed as the Worthy Grand Matron of the Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star at its 135th annual session held at the Sharonville Convention Center near Cincinnati recently. She also appointed several other area residents to serve with her, including Jan Below, Sycamore, grand organist; Jimmie Norfleet, Mansfield, grand chaplain; Joella VanWinkle, Tiffin, grand marshal; Clair Morse, Fostoria, deputy grand matron of Districts 5 and 10; and Sharon Kloepfer, Carey, grand representative of Australia in Ohio.

More than 1,000 members and guests attended the “Strike a Chord 2024” session on Thursday for practices, ritual competitions, contests, committee meetings and banquets. The official opening session began Friday afternoon with introductions and on Saturday continued with voting, reports, business sessions and receptions.

Barber was installed into the high office on Sunday in the late afternoon along with the other grand officers for the 2024-25 grand chapter year. She will serve the next 12 months with Ray Dennis, the new worthy grand patron from Logan. He is a member of Millersport Chapter No. 301.
A celebration dinner by invitation was held at the end of the session in honor of the couple and for the other 16 officers selected to serve the organization with them. Several busloads of members traveled from many areas of Ohio to witness the installation ceremony.

Barber was born on June 12, 1959, in Upper Sandusky to EvaDelle and James Traxler. She is the youngest of three, an older sister, Sharon Kloepfer (who is an OES member) and older brother Rodney, who is deceased. Barber grew up in Carey and graduated from Carey High School in 1977. She attended Bowling Green State University and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration, working in the field of nonprofit accounting for 25 years. She presently works part time as the treasurer of her church and as bookkeeper for her nephew’s landscape business.

Marla and husband, Spence, were married Sept. 18, 2011. They have three grown children, Robert, Landon and Lynsey. Robert and his wife Niki, live in Covington, Georgia, and have two grown sons. Dustin, his wife Shannon, and daughters Shiloh and Saylor, live in Oxford, Georgia; and Rory, his wife, Mari, and daughter Caroline Ruby live in Loganville, Georgia. Landon, his wife, Betty, and sons, Luke, a student at Ohio University, Daniel, and Noah, live in North Robinson. Lynsey and her husband, Dan, live in Danielsville, Georgia.

Barber’s family has been part of the Masonic organizations since the 1940s when her maternal grandfather and grandmother joined Crawford Chapter No. 168, Order of the Eastern Star in Carey. Her mother joined after she turned 18 and her father joined Eastern Star after he and her mom were married. Marla’s parents served as worthy matron and worthy patron in 1962 and 1969 at Crawford Chapter No. 168 in Carey. Her father, Jim, had the honor of serving as worthy patron with his wife, mother, sister and daughter. Barber’s mother, EvaDelle, is a 72-year member and still enjoys traveling with Marla.

Following in her family’s footsteps, Marla was initiated into the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls at Carey Assembly No. 176 and served as Worthy Advisor in 1976 and as Grand Love in 1977. She received her Grand Cross of Color and the majority degree. In April of 1978, Marla was initiated into Crawford Chapter No. 168, Order of the Eastern as the inspection candidate. After raising her children, she affiliated with Warpole Chapter No. 366 in Upper Sandusky. She has served additional offices as Adah, Esther, Martha, associate conductress, conductress and associate matron. Marla served as worthy matron in 2012, 2017 and 2024.

Barber had the honor to serve as the Deputy Grand Matron for District 10 in 2016 and 2017. She also served as a local committee co-chair for the Grand Banquet in 2017 and 2020 and as the administrative assistant to the chairman of arrangements in 2018. She was president of the District 10 association in 2022.

She is a member of Grace United Methodist Church in Carey and serves on various committees.

Barber is excited to face this journey with Eastern Star and is looking forward to renewing previous friend-ships and gaining new ones as she travels this great state of Ohio.

The Order of the Eastern Star is the largest fraternal organization in the world to which both men and women may belong. Eastern Star is a social order comprised of persons with spiritual values, but it is not a religion. Its appeal rests in the true beauty of the refreshing and character-building lessons that are so sincerely portrayed in its ritualistic work. A deep fraternal bond exists between its members. The Grand Chapter of Ohio has more than 14,000 members and is known for its charitable projects which includes: student and religious scholarships, medical research donations, the Ohio Eastern Star Home in Mount Vernon, and service dog projects.

It is estimated that the various Masonic groups (which include the OES organization) contribute more than a million and a half dollars per day or $500 million a year to various charities.