Mary Barney

September 2, 1912 - December 12, 2005

Born Mary Louise Mills on Sept. 2, 1912, she was a lifelong resident of Fort Worth. She graduated from Central High School in 1930 and married William D. Barney in 1937. Both having a strong interest in music, he as a baritone vocalist and she as an organist and pianist, they spent most of their 64 years of marriage serving together as musicians in their local churches until his death in 2001. ??? She served as organist at Polytechnic United Methodist Church and as organist and choir director at Oakhurst United Methodist. She organized the hand bell choir at First Presbyterian Church and served for 10 years as its director. She was a member of the American Guild of Organists, the Choristers Guild, the Euterpean Club of Fort Worth and Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center and Wildlife Refuge. She and her husband shared an enthusiasm for bird watching, camping, gardening, poetry and travel. Mrs. Barney had a knack for scrapbooking, cooking and supporting William in all his endeavors as a published poet and U.S. Postal Service official. Her gentle laugh and kind manners will be missed by family and friends. ??? Survivors: Sons, Charles of Kaufman, Winston and his wife, Elizabeth, of Fort Worth, Ronald and his wife, Louanne Figliola Barney, of New York, N.Y., and Robert and his wife, Julie Parcells Barney, of Baltimore, Md.; and granddaughters, Cynthia Pena and her husband, Roy Pena, and their children, Zachary, Lillian and Josie Ann of Cleburne, Susan Dodson and her husband, Chip Dodson, of Fort Worth, and Catherine Barney of Fort Worth. Memorials: Happy Hill Farms, HC51 Box 56, Granbury, Texas 76048; or Presbyterian Night Shelter, Box 2645, Fort Worth, Texas 76113.