William C. "Billy" Barnes

William C. "Billy" Barnes MARIANNA - William C. "Billy" Barnes, 69, died Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident. The service will be at 7 to 10 a.m. EDT Saturday at the Mount Tabor Missionary Baptist Church with the Rev. Hayward Teague officiating. Interment will follow in the church cemetery with military honors provided by American Legion Post of Sneads. The family will receive friends at the Chapel of Peoples Funeral Home (850-482-2233) from 5 to 7 p.m. EDT today. A member of Mount Tabor Missionary Baptist Church, he attended public schools in Jackson County. After graduating from high school he furthered his education at Florida A&M University for four years, where he was a star basketball player. He then entered the U.S. Army and continued to excel in basketball. After his tour of duty, he received an honorable discharge. Due to his outstanding talents, he was scouted by the Washington Generals and subsequently recruited by the Harlem Globetrotters. He played with such notables as Wilt Chamberlin and Meadowlark Lemon. His career with the Globetrotters enabled him to travel worldwide. Upon ending his basketball career, he was employed by CBS Television in New York City as an Associate Producer of Sports. He was inducted into the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. Billy leaves a lifetime of love and memories with his beloved and devoted daughter, Wendy Barnes and her mother Eddie Mae Barnes, both of Scarsdale, N.Y.; an uncle, Betts Barnes (and wife Nettie); two aunts, Marian Barnes Spears and Mildred Barnes, both of Marianna; and a host of cousins and friends.