James Barnett

BARNETT, JAMES, 86, died on August 22nd at his home at Bay View in Fall River, attended by his daughter Posie and surrounded by his family. He was the husband for 60 years of Faith Barnett.

Born on August 30th, 1922 in Richmond, Virginia and a long time Providence resident, he was the son of the late James H. Barnett, originally of Shelbyville, Kentucky, and Mary Russell Barnett, originally of Johnson City, Tennessee. He went to Richmond College where his father was a beloved law professor and where his granddaughter Amelia is currently a freshman.

Jim served as a meteorologist with the Army Air Force in the Pacific Theater during World War Two. After the war, he came north to Harvard Law School. He remembers being almost fatefully stymied by directions to Harvard Yard delivered in a thick Boston accent. After graduating, he practiced law with Grenough, Lyman and Cross in Providence and then moved to Edwards and Angell, where he became a partner and worked in the trust department for 54 years.

He served on the boards of Gordon School, Trinity Repertory Company, Beneficent House, The Westport River Watershed Alliance and the Westport Land Conservation Trust among others. He was particularly proud of his role in hiring the architect Paul Rudolf at Beneficent House, a low-income housing facility in Providence.

In 1969, he and his wife, Faith Richardson Barnett, originally of Milton, Massachusetts, bought land in their beloved Westport, Massachusetts where they honeymooned in 1948. They have been continually active in Westport conservation and land preservation issues ever since.

A lover of music of all kinds, Jim was as happy at the symphony as at a square dance; listening to a New Orleans slow drag, an opera or a Cajun tune. He loved to travel. His last trip was to the Ukraine with his grandson Jake.

He is survived by his wife, Faith of 60 years; his son James H. Barnett of Newton, MA; his daughter Mary R. Barnett (Jenkins) of Branford, CT; his daughter Dr. Faith 'Posie' H. Barnett of San Diego and their spouses. He has four grandchildren: Amelia and James H. Barnett (Jake) and Sam and Ben Jenkins. His son John Richardson Barnett died prematurely in 1984.

A memorial service will be held on Friday September 12th at 12 PM at the First Unitarian Church in Providence, RI, with a reception directly following at the Hope Club. In lieu of flowers, Jim would like to relieve his friends and family of any obligation to donate to any cause whatsoever on his behalf.