Robert L. Barnes

Robert L. Barnes

BERLIN — Robert Lee Barnes, 73, husband of Lenna Jo Bull Barnes, passed away at his home near Berlin on Friday, April 8, 2011. He had many health issues, which he faced bravely each day until God quietly and peacefully took him home.

"Bobby," as he was known to his family and friends, was born on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in 1937. He was a son of the late Milfred "Miff" and Mary Wilson Barnes. He started learning to weld at age 7 in his father's welding shop and did his first welding job for pay at age 9. He attended Onancock High School, where he played football until his eligibility for the game ended. At that time, he enrolled in Hargrave Military Academy, where he graduated in 1957. That same year, he joined the Air Force and trained as a scuba diver. Upon discharge from the service and while seeking work in the commercial diving field, he found he needed additional training, and enrolled in the Coastal School of Deep Sea Diving in Oakland, Calif. He then made his living in commercial diving while also working as a welder and reconditioning boat propellers.

Having always been interested in art, he took classes in watercolor painting with artists Robert Burnell and Willie Crockett. He loved art and the medium of watercolors so much that he sold his business in 1982 and began painting full time. He painted scenes of the working waterfront, work boats, harbors, towns and villages of the Eastern Shore. He averaged creating 100 paintings a year, with more than 30 of these works published in limited edition prints. In 2003, he was honored to have four of his lighthouse paintings exhibited in the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, sponsored by the National Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island, N.Y.

Bobby loved life! He loved riding motorcycles and flying planes. At one point in his life, he owned an AT-6, a World War II fighter-trainer, which he delighted in flying to air shows. He had an interest in and a love of history — local, American, World War II and family history. He loved talking to people and retained a wealth of stories, which he shared with everyone who would listen. He also loved poetry, both reading and writing it.

He was a former member and deacon of Berlin First Baptist Church, current member of SonRise Church, past president, Ocean City Chapter of Ducks Unlimited and a former member of the Ocean City Lion's Club.

Other than his wife, he is survived by a sister, Pat Hutchinson of Virginia Beach, Va.; a daughter, Melanie Susan Floyd of Pungoteague; a niece and two nephews. He was predeceased by a sister, Linda Barnes Belote, in 2007.

A memorial service will be held at Berlin First Baptist Church in Berlin on Friday at 7 p.m. A funeral service will be conducted from the chapel of Williams-Onancock Funeral Home in Onancock on Saturday at 2 p.m., with interment following in Belle Haven Cemetery. Pastor Daryl E. McCready will officiate both services. There will be a visitation one hour prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Hargrave Military Academy, 200 Military Drive, Chatham, Va. 24531-4683, a place and experience that was dear to his heart.

Arrangements are being handled by Williams-Onancock Funeral Home. Memorial tributes may be shared with the family at www.williamsfuneralhomes.com.