This is an opinion column.
Homewood said goodbye to Doug Barnes Thursday. A funeral was held at Union Missionary Baptist Church, where he belonged as a member.
A memorial service was held later at All Saints Episcopal Church, where he also belonged. As a friend.
Both were well attended.
Barnes died Jan. 13, struck by two vehicles in the night as he tried to cross U.S. 31 in Homewood, where he was known on sight by an astonishing number of residents. He was thought homeless by many, but had a home he did not or could not always use. He was known in life for walking across that city, for talking to those willing to hear, or with something to say.
But that’s not how he is remembered in death.
He is remembered as a teacher and a uniter, a man with disarming ease who gave others permission to feel good about themselves. He was a man who matter-of-factly accepted himself and others, so in turn was accepted in unlikely places and ways.
Mr. Barnes became known as the unofficial mayor of Homewood, the Rev. Charles Youngson said in his homily at All Saints. It would seem hyperbole if not for the stories that just keep coming in, from runners who made a point to stop and talk when they saw Mr. Barnes, or the workers at Leitman-Perlman Inc., who years ago decided to plant a vegetable garden outside their downtown Homewood offices so Mr. Barnes could pick a pepper or tomato if needed.
They planted wildflowers last year to give the soil a rest, Vicki Rogers said. “I know he enjoyed them, too.”
The number of people he touched is simply overwhelming. There is humor in the stories, and an honesty Mr. Barnes might appreciate. For it was no secret he had an uncanny knack for showing up at churches at the moment food was served. He might come to the men’s Bible study or the women’s Bible study at All Saints, and perhaps visit Trinity United Methodist down the street, too.
“Trinity has the best food,” he once told Youngson. “But the people at All Saints are nicer.”
He may well have said the opposite at Trinity.
But one and seemingly all – with an earnestness that is hard to dismiss – say their lives were enriched by knowing this man who broke convention with bold conversation.
Ed Liberatori, a Homewood resident who came to know Mr. Barnes while walking with his young son, will not forget the legacy.
“He told me I didn’t know how to help people,” Liberatori said. “He taught me how. I don’t think he wanted money. Or beer. He wanted to be treated like a friend.”
Liberatori said he offered Mr. Barnes food or drink at times. He paused there, in thought.
“He never said ‘thank you,’” Liberatori said. “Because he never asked for anything.”
There were real tears at this man’s funerals. He left a mark, and he left a town better than he found it. It was real, I think. It was beautiful, I know. And maybe, just maybe what he left will live on in the hearts of those who met him, and will forever change how they see and treat others like him, or not like them.
Youngson thinks it will. For Mr. Barnes taught members of his community to be more present in the moment, the pastor said, to be more open to others and to recognize “that all human beings are trying to make it in a world that can be cold and harsh.”
Rest in Peace, Doug Barnes. You taught us all what it means to belong.
John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.
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The lasting legacy of Doug Barnes - AL.com
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