Barbara Hardcastle

Federal Housing Authority worker Age: 94

Barbara Hardcastle, a Fort Smith native who worked for the Federal Housing Authority to increase homeownership across America by helping write the FHA home loan, died Jan. 13, 2021. She was 94.

Hardcastle was a fixture in local and state politics, serving as counsel to U.S. Sen. John Boozman, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the late Mayor Ray Baker.

“Barbara got a job at Fannie Mae and worked her way up to become a department head,” said Becky Yandell, a Fort Smith real estate agent who served as Sebastian County assessor. “She and her sidekicks wrote the FHA loan that we use today. It’s the common loan and takes less money down. It made homeownership more obtainable.”

One of her claims to fame: She is credited with introducing Ronald Reagan to Jelly Belly candies and keeping him stocked during his presidency.