Sue Ann Miles Barnett passed away peacefully at the age of 86 on April 15, 2016. Funeral services will be held in her honor on Monday, April 18, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. in Couch Chapel at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport. Officiating will be Rev. Dr. Carl Rhoads. The family will receive friends in the church parlor beginning at 9:30 a.m. until service time. Burial will follow at Mulhern Memorial Park, Monroe, Louisiana.
Sue Ann was born in Helena, Arkansas on October 1, 1929 and graduated from Helena High School in 1946. Immediately thereafter, she began working for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company as a Customer Service Representative. She met the love of her life, Dorvil Kent Barnett, at the U. S. Naval Reserve Station in Helena while he was serving in the U. S. Navy during the Korean Conflict. They were married on November 25, 1951, and moved to his hometown of Sterlington, Louisiana, where she became a homemaker. She and Dorvil moved to Shreveport in 1960, where she lived the remainder of her life.
In the mid 1960\'s, she turned her lifelong hobby of training dogs into a profession, which she continued with passion throughout her life. She studied under a renowned dog obedience instructor named Milo Pearsall from whom she learned to use and teach what is known as \"the love method\" in dog obedience training because it uses praise and positive reinforcement to train dogs. She became an expert in dog obedience training and traveled across the country to attend classes, seminars, and dog shows. Sue Ann became an American Kennel Club Obedience Judge and Instructor and taught dog obedience classes for over fifty years. Sue Ann and Dorvil took pride in training Belgian Sheepdogs and were known throughout North Louisiana for their skills in dog obedience training. Her other hobbies included cooking, sewing, art, gardening and bird watching.
Sue Ann had a deep faith in the Lord and lived her life sharing his love. A true \"Steel Magnolia\", Sue Ann was fiercely independent and strong in her beliefs, yet she was known for her beautiful, loving, kind and caring personality. She never met a stranger and was always thinking of others before herself. She will forever be remembered for the thoughtful acts of kindness she shared with so many people who passed through her life. She celebrated and treasured relationships with family, friends, her dog obedience class students, art friends, sewing friends, and so many others. She shared her love and compassion with all she knew with a thoughtful word, a telephone call, a beautiful note to a friend or a greeting card. If you knew her, you were likely the recipient of one of her heartfelt gifts - something she had cooked or baked (mayhaw jelly, gingerbread, cornbread dressing and fudge were favorites of so many), one of her watercolor paintings, or a sewing or embroidery project.
Sue Ann touched so many people during her lifetime. She and Dorvil were blessed to share 62 beautiful years of marriage, and to celebrate their love for each other with their beloved son, Darrell and his family. Sue Ann was especially proud of her grandchildren and always enjoyed spending time with them and celebrating events in their lives. She was an active Member of First United Methodist Church and the Co-Wed Sunday School Class.
Sue Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Maude Dooley Stone and Edward Yellelie Stone, her son, Dorvil Kent Barnett, Jr. She is survived by her devoted son, Darrell Stone Barnett, M.D., and wife Kelly Quinn Barnett, and her grandchildren, Darrell Stone Barnett, Jr., Charlotte Elizabeth Barnett, and Colleen Evelyn Barnett.
Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Shannon Dumas, Harold Golden, Jerry Montgomery and the members of the Co-Wed Sunday School Class. The family expresses their sincere thanks to Dr. Seborn Woods, Tommy Robinson, and the staff at Promise Hospital in Bossier City, LA for their care and compassion. The family also would like to extend a special thanks to Sue Ann's devoted neighbors, Harold and Lucy Golden and to Cathy Martin for their loving kindness and care.
The family suggests memorials may be made to the Eternal Flame Fund at First United Methodist Church of Shreveport, P.O. Box 1567, Shreveport, LA 71165, Shriners Hospital, 3100 Samford Ave., Shreveport, LA 71103, or to a charity of donor\'s choice.