Wilma "Billie" Barnes

Wilma "Billie" Knight Barnes of Holland Village, formerly of Doylestown, PA, Lambertville, NJ, New Hope, PA and Concord Park in Trevose, PA, died peacefully on Tuesday, October 28, 2025. She was 98.

Born in New Orleans, LA, she was a daughter of the late William Edward and Eugenia Gladys Bonney Knight.

Billie attended Sophie Newcomb College and Tulane University, where she majored in journalism and minored in Spanish. She graduated in 1947 and married Robert DuFour Barnes that December. They lived initially in New Orleans but moved north for good in 1955. Billie's daughter Bonnie was born in New York City in 1951 and her son Eric was born in Philadelphia in 1957. The Barnes family settled in Concord Park in 1957, where Billie was active in the community. In 1964 the family moved to New Hope, where Billie was able to indulge and expand her perpetual appreciation of the natural world, whether bird, bug or wildflower. As a contented northern transplant she was always thrilled when the Delaware Canal froze over so she could ice-skate. She also resumed work in journalism. In 1979 Billie moved to Lambertville, NJ, and a few years later moved to Doylestown. During her years in Lambertville and Doylestown Billie discovered a talent for design and sculpture using "found objects," or "junk," as her admiring children called it. In late 2016 she moved to Holland Village Senior Living.

Wilma is survived by her children Bonnie Barnes and husband Bill LaDue of Ferrisburgh, VT, and Eric Knight Barnes of Morrisville, PA. She is also survived by four step-grandchildren: Timothy, Hope, Holly (John Son), and Emily LaDue and two step grandchildren Nate LaDue and Theo Son.

If you think of Billie, take a walk in a wildflower preserve, watch a hawk (or a turkey vulture!) soar overhead, or grin at the unexpected elegance of a rusty piece of junk.