Donald Charles Barnett
1930-2021
Donald C. Barnett passed away peacefully in Edmond, Oklahoma on June 16, 2021 – exactly 91 years from the day of his birth in San Fernando, California to Charles and Elizabeth (Wilhour) Barnett.
When he was 3, the family moved to Muleshoe, Texas, where Don attended school with his younger brother Richard and younger sisters Barbara (Puckett) and Diana (Stewart). He was a good athlete and loved football and boxing, as well as other sports that later included golf.
Don attended Abilene Christian College, where he met his future wife, Joy F. McKnight, whom he married in 1949. Together they had four children: Jerry Don, Clay Alan, Donna Jeannine, and David Lee. Always active members of the Church of Christ, they lived and farmed in Hale Center, Texas, where Jerry was born, and then moved to Mt. Grove and then to Cabool, Missouri where the other children were born.
Don took college courses to become certified in Chamber of Commerce Management and the family moved to Neosho, Missouri, where he became the manager of the chamber of commerce. Just six months after their arrival there, Joy suffered a brain aneurysm and suddenly passed away on June 9, 1961. Don remarried on July 4, 1962 and Carolyn (Sweet) Barnett became his wife and the mother to four young children.
After four years in Neosho, the family moved to Great Bend, Kansas and two years later, in the summer of 1966, headed to Hanford, California where Don became the Kings County Economic Development Director. He was very successful in this position.
Don helped start Valley Christian Home and Western Christian School in Hanford. He was a Deacon and then an Elder of the Church of Christ there, and was known as someone who helped anyone in need. He was a dedicated family man who encouraged his children to do the best they could at whatever they chose to pursue in life. He could often be found attending his kids school and sporting events.
After retiring from the county, Don became a real estate broker, focusing on industrial and commercial properties. He had always supported his church's mission work, and at the Church of Christ in Hanford he became especially interested in the work being done in Ghana, West Africa. In 2003, he and Carolyn traveled to Ghana to see the need for themselves, and subsequently funded several dormitory-style houses for orphans at the Village of Hope. Upon their return from that first trip to Ghana, he announced that he had promised Village of Hope that his family would donate at least $1,000 a year for the next 100 years. That commitment has been met or exceeded for the last 17 years, and will be honored for its duration. Don also has supported Ghana West Africa Missions in drilling much-needed water wells.
On July 9, 2004, Carolyn died after a brief but valiant fight with cancer. In 2005, Don married Marita McKnight Wood, Joy's sister, who had suffered the loss of her spouse a few years earlier. Don and Marita moved to Edmond, where both had children living nearby, and enjoyed 16 happy years traveling, being with friends and family, and quiet times together before his passing.
Don is survived by his wife, Marita; one sister, Diana Stewart of Canyon Lake, TX; his four children and their spouses, Jerry and Hilda Barnett of Tigard, OR, Clay and Toni Barnett of San Miguel, CA, Jeannine and Dean Rucker of Lubbock, TX and David and Teri Barnett of Edmond; 10 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews and their descendants.
Those who wish to honor Don's memory are invited to help his family drill a well in his honor in Ghana, West Africa. More information and a link to donate can be found at www.gwam.org/don-barnett-legacy-well-fundraiser.