Blocked

                   FROM FRANK BARNETT -
            ROBERT FRED BARNETT
       ROBERT FRED BARNETT WAS BORN ON MAY 1909 IN BLUFF CITY, TENNESSEE.  HE WAS THE SECOND OF SIX CHILDREN BORN TO MARY ANN HARKLEROAD AND JOHN CALOB BARNETT.
       "BOB" AS HE WAS KNOWN TO HIS MANY FRIENDS WAS A LIKEABLE AND OFTEN HUMOROUS PERSON WHO PRACTICED SOUND PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR.  HE WAS AT TIMES FIERCELY INDEPENDENT.
       LACKING LITTLE FORMAL SCHOOLING BOB MORE THAN MADE UP FOR THIS SHORTCOMING BY HIS EXCEPTIONAL HIGH DEGREE OF COMMON SENSE.  BECAUSE HE WAS THE ELDEST CHILD AT HOME, BOB WAS CALLED UPON TO BE THE FAMILY LEADER.  HIS ELDEST BROTHER, JIM, HAD LEFT HOME AND HIS FATHER, JOHN CALOB, DIED IN 1935.  BOB DID ALL THAT WAS NECESSARY TO KEEP THE FAMILY INTACT AND PROVIDED WHATEVER PERSONAL ASSISTANCE AND FINANCIAL HELP HE COULD AFFORD.
       A FARMER BY NATURE, BOB WAS A SHREWD BUSINESSMAN, WHEELING AND DEALING TO MAKE ENDS MEET.  HE TRIED HIS HAND AS AN ELECTRICIAN.  HE WORKED IN OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE WHERE THE ATOMIC BOMB WAS DEVELOPED.  DURING THE 1940'S , HE DROVE A SHUTTLE TAXI IN QUANTICO, VIRGINIA TRANSPORTING MARINES TO AND FROM WASHINGTON D.C.  DURING THIS TIME, MOST OF THE BARNETT FAMIYL LIVED IN TRIANGLE, VIRGINIA. BOB, AT ONE TIME, OWNED A SMALL HOTEL IN JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE AND SEVERAL SMALL LAND PARCELS OUTSIDE THE CITY.  INDEED, HISTORY WILL REVEL THAT PART OF THE CURRENT SITE OF FREEDOM HALL IN JOHNSON CITY WAS ONCE OWNED BY ROBERT FRED BARNETT.
       AS A PARNET, BOB WAS STERN BUT LOVING.  HE RARELY RESORTED TO CORPORAL DISCIPLINE BUT ACHIEVED HIS OBJECTIVES WITH A STERN LOOK AND A FEW WELL CHOSEN WORDS.
       BOB WAS MARRIED TO VERNA VIOLA DEDOTSON WHITE AND HAD FOUR CHILDREN. "BOBBY" DIED SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH.  FRANK M. BARNETT, GLADYS MARIE STILTNER, AND PHYLLIS ANN DUGGER ALL LIVE AT THIS TIME IN NORTHEAST TENNESSEE.  BOB LOVED TO PLAY CARDS AS DOES THE ENTIRE FAMILY.  ...ESPECIALLY A GAME SOMETIMES CALLED "KNOCK RUMMY" OR "TONK" WHEREIN EACH PLAYER IS DEALT FIVE CARDS.  THE WINNER WINS MONEY, USUALLY 25 CENTS, FROM HIS/HER OPPONENTS.
       BOB LOVED HIS FAMILY AND ESPECIALLY LIKED TO TEASE HIS GRANDCHILDREN.  HE COULD ALWAYS BE CALLED UPON TO PARTICIPATE IN PRACTICAL JOKES.  BOB PARTICULARLY ENJOYED EXPOUNDING ON THE WORK ETHIC BUT PREFERRED TO SUPERVISE OR MANAGE RATHER THAN PARTICIPATE IN THE WORK ITSELF.  HE ALWAYS HAD A "PROJECT" WHICH INVOLVED REPAIRING OLD CARS, LAWN MOWERS, AND FARM EQUIPMENT.  IN HIS SENIOR YEARS, IF YOU VISITED WITH HIM YOU WOULD BE ASKED TO WORK ON ONE OR MORE OF THESE PROJECTS.
       BOB WAS A TALL, 6 FT., SLENDER AND HANDSOME MAN WHO ENJOYED GOOD HEALTH UNTIL HE DEVELOPED A NAGGING COUGH N THE SUMMER OF 1981.  HE WAS HOSPITALIZED LATER IN THAT YEAR FOR A LUNG CANCER OPERATION.  HE DIED 18 JANUARY 1982 AT NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL, JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE.  UNTIL THE END HE KEPT HIS STRONG, INDEPENDENT ATTITUDE AND LEFT A WONDERFUL LEGACY TO HIS CHILDREN REGARDING THE VALUE OF DETERMINATION AND PRAGMATISM.
       BOB IS DEEPLY MISSED BY ALL HIS FRIENDS AND RELATIVES.  IT HAS BEEN SAID AND RIGHTFULLY SO THAT "THEY BROKE THE MOLD AFTER MAKING BOB BARNETT."