Michael Barnett
Jay and I were classmates and good friends at our high school in Bennettsville, SC. He was a fine person with a good sense of humor, and we enjoyed playing on the golf team together. I remember him telling me that when he and his family first moved to Bennettsville from somewhere up North, when if I remember correctly, he was in the first grade, the children at school kidded him about being a “Yankee,” because of his northern accent. Then, when he left to attend Colgate University in New York state after high school, he told me when I saw him at home for Christmas that he had apparently picked up something of a southern accent, because his classmates at Colgate kidded him about being a “Rebel!” He said he could not win, but he was smiling when he said that. We remained friends long after high school, and our mutual friend Carl Stepp and I once enjoyed a wonderful weekend visiting with Jay and Diane in Austin, TX, where they then lived. The last time I saw him, I spent several hours “catching up” with him as we visited the Smithsonian’s Air and Space museum, during a visit with Carl in Washington. Jay is the first of our little group of 5 or 6 very close friends from high school, who have stayed regularly in touch with each other, to have passed away, and we will all miss him greatly. My condolences to Diane and their fine family.
Michael Barnett