Margaret Tot Barnes

Margaret Tot Barnes, 86, of Parkdale, died Friday, September 20, 2024, at the Ashley County Medical Center in Crossett.  Mrs. Barnes was a native and former resident of Lake Village and a resident of Parkdale since 1959. After she graduated from Lake Village High School, she received her bachelors degree in Music, English and Elementary Education from the Arkansas A&M College, now the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Mrs. Barnes was a teacher at Hermitage, Wilmot, Montrose Academy and Parkdale Schools. For 48 years, she taught Music, English, Elementary Journalism, conducted musicals, sponsored cheerleaders and drill teams and she served as a curriculum coordinator and reading coordinator, until she retired in 2010.  Mrs. Barnes began playing the piano when she was five years old and her continued love of music led her to give piano and voice lessons to any that wanted them.  Mrs. Barnes enjoyed sports, RVing and traveling all over the United States with her family and friends.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, John Sumner Barnes, III in 2021; her grandparents that raised her after her mother passed away when she was two years old, William Emmitt and Margaret Pearl Livingston and her parents, Jack and Margaret Livingston Barger.

She is survived by her son, John Sumner Barnes, IV, of Parkdale; her half-sister, Melanie Murphy of Leland, Mississippi; an uncle, Cullen Livingston of Lake Village; a niece and a nephew and numerous cousins.

Graveside services are 3 p.m., Monday, September 23, 2024, in the Parkdale Cemetery with Bro. Jamie Bustion officiating.  Memorials may be made to the Parkdale Cemetery, c/o Mr. Harry Dunigan, PO Box 98, Parkdale, AR  71661.