Barbara Bissell Kopczynski
  • Barbara Bissell Kopczynski
  • Chair

  • Department: Board of Trustees

Mrs. Kopczynski has worked in her family’s commercial real estate business for over 30 years. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, she started as a broker with The Bissell Companies and learned the ropes working side by side with her father Smoky Bissell. She took some time off to raise her 3 children but remained active on the Bissell Companies’ Board of Directors as well as serving on various other boards such as the YMCA, Christ Church, and Charlotte Country Day School.

Mrs. Kopczynski is currently president of Bissell Management Services, which is an asset management company that oversees commercial properties in the Charlotte, North Carolina area.

A former ballroom dance competitor, Barbara lives an active lifestyle and enjoys tennis, pickleball, hiking, traveling, and of course dancing. Her love of the mountains started as a child. She grew up coming to Linville year-round with her family and she attended many summers at Camp Yonahlossee located near Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Mrs. Kopczynski and her husband, Todd, live primarily in Charlotte, North Carolina but spend a lot of time in Linville in a home they bought, renovated, and named Edelweiss after the beautiful flower referenced in “The Sound of Music” that only grows in the mountains. Todd is a board-certified OB/GYN who practiced in the Charlotte area for over 30 years and now volunteers his time with Atrium Health 3 days/week on a mobile medical unit he and Barbara helped start called “Drive to Thrive.” Their combined family has 7 children ranging in age from 18 to 27. All are either in college or in the “real world” working in their field of specialty. The kids are spread across the country in Washington, D.C.; Ohio; Texas; Pennsylvania; Tennessee; Virginia; and North Carolina. Mrs. Kopczynski’s eldest son, Jack Hallow, is a senior at Lees-McRae and graduated Fall 2023 with a degree in Outdoor Recreation Management.