Mr. John "Jack" Alan Barney

In the beginning there was darkness, and then in 1947, on the 14th of April in Cleveland, Ohio an angel was born to Frank and Stella Barney. John Alan Barney, aka Angel, aka Jack, aka Jaxon, aka Mr. Natural vs Meteor Man, aka Grandpa Whitesocks…

His mother Stella loved to clothe him in dresses when he was a toddler just to show off his beautiful golden locks. At St. Pius Catholic School the girls all swooned over the cutest boy in the 2nd grade. At Chanel High School… as my older daughter Annette stated, after seeing his graduation senior photo that he was hot, just never knew it. He still is to me.

Jack is survived by Nancy, his oldest sibling, (and “Uncle Dirt,”) and the youngest, Pat (and Bill) live in and near Columbus, Ohio. Brother Tom (and Jan) are in Austin, Texas. Also, many nieces and nephews with their spouses and cousins are acknowledged here.

Jack graduated from Kent State in the class of 1969, Baby Cum Laude, followed by marriage and three great children: Kim the nurse, Ali the teacher of the deaf (Hopkins the Frog), and John the musician (JohnnyB). He lived his life in Cleveland, Massillon, and Hudson, Ohio; and ended up here in Largo, Florida.

Jack’s kind, fun loving spirit came in handy in the sales of nuts and bolts. He even had a patent for the fastest nut squeezer in the world. As the principal of J.A. Barney and Associates, he built a successful business squeezing those nuts.

Jack loved music and started playing guitar on an old broken one his dad picked up from Broadway wrecking. Jack fixed it and the rest was history. Thank you for all the fun at all the Lizardfests as the big Lizard, Big Brown Christmas, and the wonderful romantic snowy Sunday morning serenades in the music room.

Social media played a big part in his later life…Thank you to My Space…the meeting of our lifetime happened here, that and an owl pellet. As he said…he met the love of his life (me!) Millie, his soulmate. He took on (from what I have been told) a very formidable woman and her brood of six children and we became the Brady Bunch. Kim and Tim and grandson Owen live in Texas, while John and Maria with grandson Charley live just down the street in Largo, and Alison over the bridge in Tampa. His adopted brood included Annette and David and granddaughter Addison, Arcadia and Mike, who live outside of Atlanta, Toni in far off Slovenia with Ryan, Sasha in North Carolina, while grandsons Chris and Miki live at home in Largo. Jessie and Danny live in Cleveland and Tommy and Greg live in Tampa.

Jack loved his mornings at the bagel stores in Hudson at Bruegger’s and here at St Pete Bagels, where he held court daily from 8-10 am. One of his greatest pleasures was to listen to Johnny play at his gigs around the area: Green Iguana, Jimmy B’s, Crown and Bull, Clear Sky’s many establishments, Sloppy Joe’s - Jack loved them all. He said that wherever John played was the place to eat. He was right. He was John’s biggest groupie.

Jack was a wonderful mate, an amazing father and grandfather, and the best friend anyone could have. His memory will live on in all the wonderful stories of his life and all of the lives he touched through his kindness, wisdom, and generosity. He lived life to the fullest and in the end slid into home base like a champ. Jack left the world a better place than he found it, and we are all much better for having had him in our lives. Looking forward to having some of his memories posted here. He was and is the love of my life.

Arrangements were made under the direction of Garden Sanctuary Funeral Home, 7950 131st Street, Seminole, FL 33776 / 727-391-0121.