Mary Elaine (Mcfarlin) Barnett

Bridgeport ~ Mary Elaine McFarlin Barnett, 92, a retired legal secretary, died January 5, 2016 of congestive heart failure.

Funeral is 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 9, 2016 at Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Decatur. Family will receive friends 6-8 p.m. Friday at Hawkins Funeral Home in Bridgeport. Burial will be 2:15 p.m. Monday, January 11, 2016 at DFW National Cemetery in Dallas.

Rev. Shelley McNew will officiate. Pallbearers include Dwayne Kennedy, Butch Baker, Tom Kastler, Todd Barnett, Shane Howard, Brent Parker, Will Bartoo, Tristen Forsythe, John Austin, Michael Austin, and Spencer Austin.

Nicknamed early on as “Sally” by her siblings, Mary was born on April 5, 1923 to John Watson and Jessie Elizabeth (Sisk) McFarlin in Rockwall County, Texas. She attended Kilgore Junior College. Mary was united in marriage to John L. Barnett Sr. on June 28, 1941 in Wichita Falls. She was a skilled secretary in the most professional sense of the word, beginning her career during WWII while working in the Quartermaster’s office at Camp Maxey and Camp Fannin. Mary was the first secretary for Christie Mitchell & Mitchell in Wise County working in a rented room in the court house in the early 1950’s. She continued in the oil and gas industry working for A & B Well Service before settling in as a legal secretary for Woodruff, Fostel, Wren and Simpson, eventually managing the firms Bridgeport office until her retirement in 1985. Mary was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church. She was a founder of the County Council on Alcoholism and the New Beginnings Al-Anon group.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 62 years, John L. Barnett Sr.; and her son, William Mack “Bill” Barnett.

Those left behind to cherish her memory are her son, John L. Barnett Jr. and wife Betty of Decatur; her daughters, Mary Jean Howard and husband Paul of Decatur, Cynthia Wood and husband Walter of Decatur; her grandchildren, Todd Barnett and wife Heidi, Shelly Parker and husband Brent, Romney Forsythe and husband Billy, Shane Howard , and Alison Wood; her great- grandchildren, William, Tristen, Mac, Bella, Ashlynn, Jack, and Emma; her great-great- grandchildren, Abel and Leo; her sisters, Anne Thomas of Pasadena, Texas, and Nancy Woodson of Wichita, Kansas; numerous other family members and a host of friends.

Memorial contributions can be made to any of the following charities: Wise Area Relief Missions P.O. Box 1084, Decatur, TX 76234. or call 940-626-4676;  The Wounded Warriors Project www.woundedwarriorproject.org; or any local animal shelter.

Hawkins Funeral Home, Bridgeport, Texas, 940-683-2211

www.hawkinsfuneralhome.com