Betty Barnes

Betty Joann Swicegood Barnes, 79, of Trillium Place, Kernersville, died Thursday, July 9, 2015, after complications resulting from surgery March 30. A service to celebrate her life will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Churchland Baptist Church by the Rev. Ray Howell IV. Visitation with the family will take place in the fellowship hall after the service, when a buffet dinner will be provided for all who attend. Betty Jo, as she was known to her many dear friends and family members, was born Sept. 15, 1935, in Churchland to Glenn and Pauline Swicegood. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother Jim Swicegood; and husband of 57 years, Charlie Barnes. Surviving are her sons, Glenn Barnes and wife Julia and their son, Alex, of Kernersville and Mitch Barnes and wife Meredith and their sons, Mitchell and Marshall, of Louisville, Ky. Before her retirement in 1999, Betty was a long-time employee of The Dispatch, where she spent years as the advertising director. She was a driving force who helped make the Barbecue Festival a resounding success for the newspaper as a sponsor. This was due to her leadership abilities and a loyal, hard<\h>working, dedicated advertising staff whom Betty motivated and inspired. She began her career at The Dispatch as an advertising saleswoman, and she was the logical choice to become advertising director when that position became available due to a retirement, according to Joe Sink, former publisher of The Dispatch to whom Betty reported. Sink said Betty was recognized many times by The New York Times Regional Newspaper Group for her accomplishments in building revenues. "She got along very well with the people she worked with. I don't think I ever had a serious complaint about Betty from her staff, her advertising clients or anyone," Sink recalled. "She was a good people person, and she was also very smart. She knew how to provide advertisers with what they wanted. We had great success in that department. Nobody ever did a better job for us as Betty." In addition to inspiring her staff, she brought out the best in everyone she knew, encouraging them and gently advising that they were strong enough to achieve their goals with hard work. She knew this because she worked very hard for her employer as well as for the many civic organizations she served as a volunteer, receiving numerous recognitions. She had a special place in her heart for Rotary International, where she was a Paul Harris Fellow. She also helped raise awareness of the DREAM Foundation, a non<\h>profit foundation created in honor of her grandson, Mitchell Barnes, in an effort to fund research and find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Betty was a skilled party planner and the ultimate hostess. She made everyone feel comfortable in her beautifully appointed home on Maitland Court in Clemmons. She welcomed family, extended family, friends, friends of friends, neighbors, coworkers and dogs to festive and lively holiday parties, dinner and birthday parties. She was extremely proud of the accomplishments of her two sons and three grandsons, and she was also proud of the accomplishments of her staff, family and friends, and she readily told them so. She was an informal mentor to more women than anyone will ever know, and she always told them she wanted to be like them. Betty, a talented artist, found time in her retirement to return to painting, and she concentrated on colorful acrylic paintings of memorable scenes from her travels around the world. As she regained her passion for painting, Betty made many new friends in the art community, especially those in her art classes taught by Danny Hill. Betty loved Jesus as her Savior. She was a member of Friedberg Moravian and Churchland Baptist churches, and she was an active member of the Bible Study Fellowship. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the DREAM Foundation, 8216 Limehouse Lane, Louisville, KY 40220; Churchland Baptist Church, 7516 N.C. Highway 150 S., Lexington, NC 27295; and Friedberg Moravian Church, 2178 Friedberg Church Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27127.