Tributes

Through the Eyes of a Beholder: A Portrait of the Life of Marion Lee Barnes, Sr. On one of the pages of the 1965 HB Suggs yearbook The Lion, a picture of a kneeling young man is prominently and forever displayed. He is a senior and a football player, and he wears the number 59. He smiles into the camera with an intensity reserved for the very young, the very hopeful, and the very confident, and the viewer can sense that he is no easy target, neither on the playing field nor in life, for he–Marion Lee Barnes, Sr.--is prepared. Marion was born the sixth child to the late James Barnes, Sr. and Penny Gray-Barnes on February 26, 1946. His birth followed his siblings’ James Barnes, Jr., Albert Barnes, Nathaniel Barnes, Jerry Barnes and Verna Becton, who all preceded him in death, and predated his sister Magdalene Pearson’s, by whom he is survived. On another page of the same yearbook is a photograph of Edith Gay, a sophomore, who–on the forgotten date these images were taken–was Marion’s girlfriend, but who also–on August 29, 1967 –would become his wife. No one pretends that young love--to say nothing of young marriage–is easy, yet the two built a life together that withstood the variabilities of time, the foundation of which was immeasurably strengthened once he dedicated himself to God and endeavored to live a life pleasing unto to the Lord. As he matured in the faith, he gained a greater appreciation for the gift of Grace; however, that did not deter him from setting a personal standard in accordance with Deuteronomy 6: 6-7: These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children, which he did faithfully to his daughters, Pamela Barnes Ellis (Tony), Chena Williams (Radrecra), and Gwendolyn Worthington, whom he claimed as his own, and to his son, Marion Barnes, Jr. (Cheryl). Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up, which he was known to do both throughout the community and within The Bible Church of God. The leadership he exhibited in his church–from laying the physical bricks upon which it was built to planting the spiritual seeds upon which its parishioners relied–informed not only his home and civic life but also his professional one. During his more than thirty-year tenure with Burroughs Wellcome, his reputation grew in both popularity and prestige, culminating in his seat at the “Quality Circles” table. But because he was also motivated by Proverbs 16:3, Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed, he pursued a different, more humble opportunity upon his departure, allowing him space to be a pillar of his community and time to grow his knowledge of the scriptures, ultimately winning him his Divinitis Doctor (Doctor of Divinity). Some might find it strange that, as serious as he proved to be concerning spreading the Gospel, and as instructive as he might have been with his grandchildren—Latoria Hall (Samuel), Candice Streeter, Amber Streeter, India Streeter, Meyah Barnes, Christian Barnes, Lauryn Barnes, Michael Bowens, Justice Bowens and Tyra Spell –and his great-grandchildren–Landon Hall, Aiden Bryant, Lailah Hall, Aaliyah Ward, Jamal Ward, Jakobi Bowens and Jakori Bowens–he never took himself too seriously. He was warm and witty, jovial and jolly, fun and fantastic. This cordial, caring nature he shared with his extended family of uncles and aunts; brothers- and sisters-in-law; nieces and nephews; cousins and friends. And we will all miss him, dearly. Whether we understood it or not when he said it, we eventually believed and now know his words to be true: “Before me there was none, when I came there was only one, after me there will be no other.” And whether or not the boy in the picture, on the genesis of his manhood–forever young, forever strong, forever ready–in The Lion yearbook understood it or not, he came to believe and now has the full revelation, proving His Word to be true as he stands before God and . . . another book is opened, which is The Lamb’s Book of Life. And we are so comforted to know that on a page somewhere among the forever Free and the forever Home is written . . .

Tributes

Bishop Marion L. Barnes, Sr.

February 26, 1946 - October 29, 2023