DL Capt. John Birchel Barnes

~ IN MEMORY ~

DL Capt. John Birchel Barnes

January 5, 1934 ~ July 6, 2015

 

 

Friends and co-workers write of the passing of Delta Captain John Birchel Barnes, age 81.  Captain Barnes joined Delta Air Lines 09-03-1957 and retired with Delta in 1994, based 031/ATL. 

 

To view/sign the online guestbook please visit the funeral home website at  http://www.horizonfunerals.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=3236287&fh_id=13241   Captain Barnes' obituary notes that interment services with military honors will be held Saturday, August 1st in Decatur, Georgia.  Please see correspondence below for more information.  The last known address that I could find for Captain Barnes was at 9370 Triana Terrace in Fort Myers FL...no other address is known. 

Should we receive a family address we then will be able to update our memorial site.

                    Thank you,

                        ~ Carol for the PCN

Obituary.....................................

John Birchel Barnes, 81, of Fort Myers, FL died on July 6, 2015 at Hope Hospice, Cape Coral, FL.
Survivors include 2 daughters Jody Barnes of Sarasota, FL and Jackie Ann Walls of Woodstock, GA; son Robert H. Barnes of Griffin, GA and a brother Robert Barnes of Ft. Myers, FL.

 

Interment services with full Naval honors will be held on Saturday August 1, 2015 at 11:00 AM at the Decatur Cemetery, 299 Bell Street (Section 12N, Lot 22 & 23), Decatur, GA 30030.

 

Family request in lieu of flowers contributions be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

 

Family and friends may sign the guest register by visiting www.horizonfunerals.com 

 

From: Julian Black   Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2015 6:04 PM   Subject: The passing of a legend, Skipper John Barnes 

From: E Neal Gray [mailto: gray5659@bellsouth.net ]
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2015 4:21 PM  Subject: The passing of a legend, Skipper John Barnes 

On Friday, July 10, 2015 3:59 PM, E Neal Gray <gray5659@bellsouth.net> wrote: 

Robert, This is what I meant when I said that I was not around when John had the highlights of his career . This man can do a great job for that audience of old friends..... Neal

On Thursday, July 9, 2015 10:54 AM, John Cooper <johncooper2@bellsouth.net> wrote:

I have received news that our beloved Skipper Emeritus John Barnes passed away last Saturday, July 6th. John passed away from complications resulting from pneumonia. As many of you are aware, John has been suffering from the latter stages of Alzheimer's disease and has been in a memory care facility in Fort Meyers, FL for some time.

John was VA-205's first Commanding Officer flying the A-4L Skyhawk. He had flown among other aircraft the F7U Cutlass ("Ensign Killer") in the fleet and the F-8 Crusader at NAS Atlanta in the Reserves. John will be fondly remembered as a truly unique individual. Some of the memories and sayings of John that have been passed on to me in the past few days include:

"...the end of an era and the passing of another true legend"

"RIP Skipper"

"You know he'll make it, cause he always does"

"He was the inspiration for so many happy memories"

"...like a pig looking at a wrist watch"

"there's trees in those clouds"

"Trust Me"

"Anyone who can walk away from a F7U crash and CQ 20 years later flying the A 4 will not have a problem with the "Pearly Gates"

"Capt Carl Cockhammer inspired and entertained us all whether at the NAS or on the ski slopes. He will be missed."

When there was talk of night carrier quals and pointed out to John about the seriousness and danger involved, his response was "Well I haven’t landed on a ship in over 20 years and it doesn’t scare me!”

When VA-205 had just won the Noel Davis award and it didn’t even make it into the base rag, John was so PO'ed at the base PAO officer that when the guy wandered into the bar at happy hour, John announced rather loudly that “THERE’S THE ONLY PAO OFFICER IN THE US NAVY THAT COULDN’T GET WORLD WAR II IN THE NEWSPAPERS.!”

In my own case, I recall fondly as a new engineer flying with John in the CV-880 the many hours spent in the cockpit and on layovers as he quizzed me endlessly on the weapons and flight characteristics of the A4 aircraft.