Stone Barefield Sr.

Services are at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at Moore Funeral Chapel in Hattiesburg for Stone Deavours Barefield, Sr., 81, who passed away unexpectedly at his home on Friday, March 20, 2009.
Mr. Barefield was preceded in death by his father, Samuel Stephen Barefield, Sr.; and his mother, Dinah Deavours Barefield.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Bonnie Taylor Barefield; three sons, Stone D. Barefield, Jr., Allen T. Barefield and Michael C. Barefield; and a daughter, Julia B. Johnson, all of Hattiesburg; one brother, Samuel S. Barefield, Jr. of St. Petersburg, FL; five grandchildren, Amy Johnson, Taylor Barefield, Katie Johnson and S. Deavours Barefield, III, all of Hattiesburg, and Sarah "Brooke" Barefield, of Long Beach, MS.
Stone Deavours Barefield was born July 28, 1927 in Laurel, MS (due to his hometown of Hollandale, MS being under water due to the Great Flood of 1927), at the home of his Grandfather, the Honorable Stone Deavours, former teacher, lawyer, judge, and dean of Ole Miss Law School. He moved to Hattiesburg in the 1930's where he continued to reside until his passing.
He was a 1945 graduate of Hattiesburg High School, where he played quarterback on the football team. He served in the Merchant Marines during World War II and in the Marines and Marine Reserves during the Korean Conflict. Upon returning from service in the Merchant Marines, he attended Mississippi Southern College (now USM), graduating with a Bachelors degree in 1952. While at MSC, he was a member of the charter pledge class of Kappa Alpha Order, Gamma Zeta Chapter, was later initiated and served the fraternity well, even long after graduation, when he was inducted into the Irwin Province Court of Honor. He went on to graduate from the University of Mississippi School of Law, and was a licensed attorney from 1954 until his demise.
He was a lifelong member of Court Street United Methodist Church, where on December 2, 1951, he married his beautiful Bride, Bonnie Taylor. Bonnie and Stone cherished each other and were as in love on the day of his passing as they were on the day they wed.
Mr. Barefield was a former State Legislator, having served 24 years in the Mississippi House of Representatives, from 1960 - 1984. While in the Legislature, Stone served as Chairman of Judiciary B Committee, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) Committee and the Local and Private Committee in the House of Representatives, as well as serving as a member of various other committees over the years. Stone also served for over 20 years as the Attorney for the Forrest County Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Barefield was instrumental in passing a number of measures as a legislator that served the public well. His proudest achievement as a legislator was the adoption of a bill he authored and introduced which became known as the Homestead Exemption Law, exempting the tax liabilities for homeowners aged 65 and above. He was known as the Father of the Open Primary Law, which he authored and introduced in the House of Representatives and was signed into law, but was later set aside by the Federal Courts. The law allowed all candidates for an office to run against each other regardless political affiliation, with the two top vote getters having a run off, thus preventing a candidate from being elected except upon a majority vote of the people. In spite of the revocation of the law in Mississippi, the Louisiana legislature adopted the same law, based upon the language of the bill Mr. Barefield authored, and it remains law in Louisiana today. He was a staunch advocate of the right of the States and the People to govern themselves an the Federal government being limited to the explicit powers granted it by the People. He was the first State Representative from Forrest County, District 102, to be re-elected to a successive term, having served 6 consecutive terms. Mr. Barefield was also known as the "Master of the Rulebook" by his colleagues in the House of Representatives. He had the ability to get laws passed or to defeat laws he viewed as not beneficial to the public, by out-smarting his colleagues with procedural maneuvers that would leave other House Members dumbfounded in defeat. Prior to his retirement from the Legislator, he had become one of the most influential lawmakers the State had ever seen.
During his 55-year career as an attorney, he became one of the foremost authorities on State and County government in Mississippi. He served nearly a quarter century as Attorney for the Forrest County Board of Supervisors, and often lectured other board attorneys on the intricacies of county government. He retired from the position in 1994.
Even after retirement as full-time Board attorney (the first such full-time County Board Attorney in the State), he continued to serve the public, as was always his pleasure as well as his duty. Stone continued to serve the needs of the public, and did so many times without remuneration. He spearheaded the creation of the Leaf and Pearl Rivers Rails-To-Trails Recreational District by lobbying for legislative enactment, by and through which the public acquired ownership of 43 miles of abandoned railroad right-of-way which is now a beautiful, scenic hiking/biking/equestrian trail that has become a tourist destination for South Central Mississippi, stretching from Hattiesburg to Prentiss. Until recently, he served as attorney for the Recreational District.
Stone continued to serve as Attorney for the Southeast Mississippi Air Ambulance, a position he held since its inception in the 1970's..
Mr. Barefield was history buff, and quite knowledgeable about the War Between the States, which he referred to as the "War of Northern Aggression." He was proud and quite passionate about his Confederate Heritage, and was a staunch advocate of the governmental principles for which the Confederate States of America stood. He was a man without prejudice or bias toward his fellow man, but believed that smaller government, closer to the people governed was the way the founding fathers intended our Great Nation to be. He was an active member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Mississippi Division (SCV), where he served the Division as Judge Advocate from 1992-2005. Beauvoir, the Last Home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, located in Biloxi, is owned an operated by the SCV. Stone served as a member of the Beauvoir Board of Trustees, serving as Treasurer and Trustee Emeritus until his death. While a member of the Legislature, he was named to the Commission to place a Memorial to Confederate Soldiers on the battlefield at Gettysburg. He had an extensive library collection of civil war papers, documents, histories and literature.
Stone Deavours Barefield will be missed by his community and the State of Mississippi.