Julia Barnhill-Letlow

Julia Barnhill-Letlow is the wife of Luke Letlow, he died at age 41 after a heart attack during a procedure related to his COVID-19 infection.

His death has been confirmed by the Louisiana governor and a health official, Governor John Bel Edwards wrote on Twitter “It is with heavy hearts that @FirstLadyOfLA and I offer our condolences to Congressman-elect Luke Letlow’s family on his passing after a battle with COVID-19. #lagov,” and added, “Louisiana has lost more than 7,300 people to COVID-19 since March, and each one of them leaves a tremendous hole in our state.”

Luke was the first member of Congress to die of COVID-19 complications. Furthermore, Luke had been elected as Representative for Louisiana’s 5th district and was due to be sworn in on Sunday.

On December 18, 2020, he announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to hospital soon afterward. On December 23rd his condition worsened and was transferred to an intensive care unit at a hospital in Shreveport, where he died on Tuesday.

His family said in a statement published in the Monroe News-Star “The family appreciates the numerous prayers and support over the past days but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected time.”

On December 27th Letlow’s wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow wrote on Facebook “Thank you for the inquiries, love, and prayers. Moving forward, we will use Luke’s FB page to provide all updates. Much love to all of you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!.”

Earlier, on December 7th Luke Letlow urged people to donate plasma after his COVID-19 diagnosis, he wrote on Twitter “Thank you to my supporters and the voters from every corner of the #LA05. We are so grateful for those who helped us cross the finish line. I’m ready to get to work & am focused on bringing jobs, investment, and opportunity to our district!.”

Later, in the follow-up Tweet he wrote “For those who’ve had Covid already, your plasma is especially needed by those who are suffering. I cannot stress this enough. Please consider saving lives by going out and donating at your local blood bank. It may very well be the gift of life that you are giving a family this Christmas.”

Know About Julia Barnhill Letlow

Julie is the Executive Assistant to the President for External Affairs and Community Outreach at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

According to her Linkedin profile, she describer herself as “Accomplished career demonstrating consistent success as an educator and executive-level administrator in higher education. Specialties: Higher Education, Administration, Communication, Governmental Relations, Community Outreach, Marketing.”

Julia started her career as Teaching Associate at the University of Louisiana Monroe and served there from August 2003 to May 2005. Later, she joined the University of South Florida as Teaching Associate and taught sections of Interpersonal Communication, Public Speaking, and Persuasion to classes averaging 25 + students.

From October 2007 to July 2011, Julia served as Special Projects Coordinator at the University of Lousiana Monroe. Then, she worked at Tulane University as Dir. of Education, Dir. of Resident Patient Safety & Quality Improvement, and Clinical Instructor.

Since August 2014, Julia has been serving as an Instructor at the Univerity of Louisiana Monroe. Also, she’s been working as Executive Assitant to the President for External Affairs and Community Outreach.

Husband

Julia Barnhill was married to Luke Letlow in April 2013, they share two kids, On December 18, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Letlow announced that he had tested positive for the virus.

On December 29, Letlow died of complications of COVID-19 at the age of 41, days before he was scheduled to be sworn into office.

The duo has two young children, Jeremiah John Letlow and Jacqueline Taylor Letlow.

Julia grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, talking about her education she graduated from the University of Louisiana at Monroe with a BA and MA in Speech Communications and then went on to pursue her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of South Florida.

Family

Julia Barnhill-Letlow lost her brother, Jeremy, in a traffic crash as a teenager. On October 16, she captioned an old photo: “On this day I love dreaming about what you would be doing at the age of 36. Happy Birthday in heaven Jeremy.”

However, there is not much information about her father and mother.

(Image Source: Luke Letlow Instagram)