Sharon J. Barnes

EATON — Sharon J. (Shaw) Barnes, 84 of Eaton, passed away on Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at Hospice of Dayton.

Born on Jan. 22, 1940, in the home that her great-grandfather Daniel M. Brower built in 1880 in Gasper Township, Preble County, she was the daughter of the late Arthur B. and Reba May (Charles) Shaw.

A 1958 Dixon-Israel High School graduate where she was active in basketball, softball, band and choir, in her senior year at Dixon, she earned first place at the District II Solo and Ensemble Music competition in Dayton, in Vocal Mezzo-Soprano Solo and Piano and later won the first Martha Johnson music scholarship given in 1958 in a competition conducted by the Lyric club of Eaton. In the fall of 1958, Sharon started college at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. On Sept. 20, 1960, her junior year, she set sail from New York City on the RMS Mauretania to Europe and studied abroad until June 30, 1961. During this time, she studied at the Mozarteum School of Music and Dramatics in Salzburg, Austria, where she learned from the "Classical Masters."

On June 11, 1962, she earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, and was hired by Eaton Schools as an elementary music teacher, and later studied at the graduate school at Miami University. On January 1, 1970, she became the first Preble County-born woman to become a Licensed Ohio Funeral Director. She retired in 1995 from Eaton City Schools after teaching hundreds of elementary school children to read, play and sing music. She will long be remembered for her musical programs, Name That Tune, and teaching her students to play the flutophone. She taught many students in her home to play the piano and voice.

Sharon was a life member of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association; life member of the Preble County Retired Teachers Association; Music Educators National Conference; Ohio Music Educators Conference; Ohio Music Educators Association Quarter Century Award; Eaton Community Chorus; Member of National Funeral Directors Association; Ohio Funeral Directors Association; 4th District Ohio Funeral Directors Association; Charter Member Preble County Y.M.C.A.; member of Concord Church; former Honorary Member of Omicron Sigma Sorority; Alpha Garden Club; Preble County Historical Society and Past Presiding Judge for the Preble County Board of Elections. She was an avid Cincinnati Reds fan, loved growing dahlias, traveling to the Smoky Mountains and to Long Boat Key in the winter months, and loved spending time with the "Dixon Girls," her college classmates, and especially her family and close friends.

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Robert C. Barnes; sons and daughters-in-law Brian R. and Erin M. Barnes, Stephen A. and Lori R. Barnes; grandchildren Matthew B. and Jennifer J. S. Barnes, Christina D. and Jacob W. "Jake" Duffy, Logan P. Barnes, Lorin E. and Jacob Bassler; great- grandchildren Reed, Jameson, Declan and Cecilia; cousins Nedra (Buriff) Karl Mielke, Thomas Ray Spacht and Gary J. Spacht; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Bruce L. and Rayna Barnes; nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of friends.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 3-6 p.m. at Barnes Funeral Home, 220 East Main Street, Eaton, and one hour prior to service at the church. Funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22, at the Concord Church, 2225 Concord - Fairhaven Road, (Dixon Township) Eaton, with Rev. Dr. James W. Ernst and Rev. James Sizelove officiating. The interment will be held in Mound Hill Cemetery in Eaton at 2 p.m. on Friday.

Memorial contributions may be made to Ohio's Hospice of Dayton, 324 Wilmington Ave., Dayton, OH 45420 or Concord Church, c/o Don Orr, 3250 Tony Lybrook Road, Eaton, OH 45320.

Condolences may be sent to the family via the website www.barnesfuneralhome.com.