Dempsey Lee Barnett, age 84, of Poca, went home to be with the Lord Friday, April 25, 2014, at the VA Medical Center. Dempsey was a retired Chemist from Monsanto with 38 years of service. He was a Navy Veteran serving during the Korean Conflict aboard the USS Soley. He was a 50-year member of the Poca United Methodist Church, where he also served as a Sunday School teacher for 40 years. He was an avid fisherman, gardener and farmer. He was a member of the IOOF #85, American Legion, Buena Vista Encampment #80 and the American Chemical Society. He was a 1948 graduate of Nitro High School and a graduate of West Virginia State College. He was a former chairman of the Putman County Republican Committee and formerly on the advisory committee at West Virginia State College. He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Lucy Barnett; two brothers, Okey and Dorsel Barnett; and two sisters, Mary Ann Taylor and Julia Casto. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Mrs. Phyllis Rogers Barnett; children, William A. Barnett, and wife, Duana, of Hillsboro, Stephen Barnett, and wife, Beverly, of Hurricane, Pamela Barnett, and husband, John Padgett, of Franklin, Tennessee, and Julie Barnett Null, of Charleston; grandchildren, Allison Gray, Jillian Barnett, Meg Ann Workman, Sarah Davis, Kelsey Freeman, Will Padgett and Dustin Null; and a host of nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank Sherry Surface and Danika Powell for the wonderful care given to Dempsey. Funeral service was April 29 at Gatens-Harding Funeral Home Chapel with Pastors Stephen J. White and Audria Botkin officiating. Interment was in Barnett Chapel Cemetery in Liberty. Memorials may be made to Barnett Chapel Cemetery, 1212 Forest Drive, Hurricane, WV 25526 or Poca United Methodist Church, 112 Silver Street, Poca, WV 25159.
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