Photo Provided Longtime Belmont County Board of Elections member Frankie Lee Carnes died Tuesday at age 82. Here, she prepares to take a drive in this photo that evoked fond memories for her family.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Frankie Lee Carnes, a public servant and the longest-serving member in the history of the Belmont County Board of Elections, died Tuesday at age 82 following a short illness.

Carnes served as the first female director of the Belmont County Board of Elections, taking over the position in 1975. She later served as a board member and as chairperson of the board.

Carnes always expressed an affinity for the older punch card system of voting, but she grew to embrace the newer voting technologies.

In 1995, she became the first chairwoman of the board, succeeding her husband of nearly 43 years, former Ohio senator James Carnes, R-St. Clairsville.

For the past two decades, Frankie Carnes has been an advocate for those suffering from cancer and their loved ones whose lives also were touched by the disease. She combined her concern for cancer patients with her love for drinking tea. In 2005, she began her “Sterling Tea Ministry” after having been diagnosed with and surviving breast cancer. It would later become known as the “Tea of Hope.”

Carnes would invite other cancer survivors and family members to join her for an afternoon tea at the First Christian Church in Barnesville, and these events happened annually over each of the last 20 years.

At the most recent tea in April, she told those present she would be retiring from the event and that her large family would be continuing the tradition.

“When you hear the Carnes name in our community, you immediately think of Jim and Frankie Carnes,” said Belmont County Commissioner Vince Gianangeli. “She served the community for over 50 years on the board of elections. She always ran the office by the book and was well respected.

“Her expertise will be hard to replace. We pray for her family during this difficult time.”

Commissioner Jerry Echemann added that he also appreciated Carnes’ service to the county and the board of elections.

“Certainly, down through the years, we’ve been really proud of the work in general from our board of elections,” he said. “We’ve had very little problems at all during the elections. Everything is always run efficiently and fairly — and, of course, she would have been a very big part of that.”

As both the wife of a state senator and an elections director, Carnes was also largely involved with Republican Party politics in both Belmont County and throughout Ohio.

“She was a worker in our party,” former county GOP Chairman David Jones said. “She was honest and sincere in every decision she made. This will be a big loss to our party.”

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her children, Kelly Anne (Wally) McCabe, Leslie Marie (Bill) Kutchell, J. Scott (Shelly) Carnes, and Kristi Lee Lipscomb, all of St. Clairsville; her step-children, Jeffrey J. Carnes of Columbus and Karen J. (Jim) Large of Belmont; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A funeral is planned for Monday at the First Christian Church of Barnesville, 219 W. Church St., Barnesville.