Family and friends gathered to remember Dr. William Rowan Barron II on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church. Dr. Bill Barron became head of staff at the church in 1981 and retired in 2008, being named pastor emeritus in 2009. The church fellowship hall is named Barron Hall. His full obituary is here, and the memorial service is here.
Walt Barron gave a love-filled eulogy for his father and acknowledged family friends from other cities where Dr. Barron had pastored. Bill and Eleanor Barron had three children: Richard, Meg and Walt.
From the obituary: Bill met Eleanor Warr, the love of his life, on a blind date his senior year at Davidson College. They married three years later. Their love story spanned 60 years, four generations and four pastorates. For their 50th anniversary, he pulled off the ultimate surprise; and when Eleanor turned around in the church of her childhood where they were married and saw a sanctuary filled with people she loved, she said, “This must be what heaven looks like.”
There wasn’t an empty seat in the church sanctuary for the service. Bill Barron was much-loved and respected.