Kathryn Barnard

Kathryn Bond “Kathy” Barnard, age 94, a resident of Pearl, MS passed away Monday, December 5, 2022, in Jackson, MS. Visitation will be held 9:00 am until the 11:00 am memorial service Friday, December 9, 2022, at Brandon Baptist Church in Brandon, MS.
Kathy grew up in a minister’s family in central and southern Ohio during the Great Depression, graduating from Nelsonville High School in 1946. The family then moved to Marion, Indiana, so she could attend Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University). She met Bill, the love of her life, at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in nearby Gas City. Both of them worked at the Veterans’ Hospital in Marion; transfers took the family to Indianapolis and Augusta, Maine. Bill’s father’s death led them to Starkville, MS, to care for his mother. After her passing, the family moved to Biloxi so Bill could return to his career with the VA hospital there. His untimely death four months later prompted Kathy to renew her commitment to God in March of 1974, being baptized at Temple Baptist Church in Biloxi. She found another Civil Service job at the US Navy’s Construction Battalion Center (Seabee Base) in Gulfport and moved to Long Beach. She retired from there in 1993, having worked for 19 years as secretary to the 20th NCR Assistant Chief Staff Officer and raising the job from a GS-3 to a GS-8, with several performance awards to her credit. In 2009 she followed Tim to Brandon after he took a job at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Kathy played the piano from age 5 until arthritis crippled her hands. But her love of music led her to volunteer after retirement to help the minister of music, first at First Baptist Church Long Beach, then Brandon Baptist Church. With her low voice, she sang tenor in the church choir. She enjoyed collecting teddy bears and periodically traveling around the state with Tim until her health declined. Known for her smile, her faithful commitment to the church and the Lord, and her unwavering faith, she was an inspiration to all who knew her.
Kathy was preceded in death by her husband, William Herschel ‘Bill” Barnard, Jr., parents, Rev. Evart C. Bond and Erma Marie Shark Bond, and brother, Evart C. “Bud” Bond, Jr.
Kathy is survived by her children, Brenda L. “Lynne” Marasco of Long Beach, and her son, Timothy S. “Tim” Barnard of Pearl; grandchildren, Nicholas P. (Heather) Marasco of Gulfport, Angela M. (Robert) Freeman of Sherman, TX, and Daniel W. (Valerie) Marasco of Mission, TX; great grandchildren, Shyanne Marasco, Braxton Marasco, Bryant Marasco, Hailey Freeman, Hannah Freeman, Taylor Marasco, and Zakk Marasco.
The family prefers donations in her memory to the building fund at Brandon Baptist Church.