Augusta, Ga. – Mr. Franklin Roosevelt Barefield, Sr. entered eternal rest on May 8, 2017 after a courageous battle against illness.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00pm on Saturday, May 13th 2017 at National Hills Baptist Church with Dr. Kevin Steele officiating. Family visitation will be from 12:00 (noon) until 1:00 pm.
Franklin was a loving husband, father to two sons and brother to several siblings. He was born in Clinton, North Carolina on November 8, 1932 to parents Clarence Barefield and Ruby Sikes.
Franklin is survived by sons Franklin R. Barefield, Jr. and wife Renee Strunk of Augusta; Christopher C. Barefield and wife Irma L. Gloria of Houston TX; and sister Sudie Stafford of Gloucester Point, VA.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 59 years, Lewana Lou Barefield.
He served in the Army Reserves state-side as an artillery instructor during the Korean War.
His varied career spanned 42 years and saw him as a wind tunnel technician at NACA (which predated NASA); a welder and a HVAC designer at Newport News Shipyard, a designer in shipyards in Mississippi and California; worked on the design of a floating off-shore nuclear power plant in Florida; 23 years with the Bechtel Group as a designer, group lead and planner in Texas, Arkansas, Alabama and South Carolina.
He was known as a snappy dresser who passed his love of all types of music onto his children. His other interests included drawing, artistic composition, learning to play the organ, baking, and watching movies.
Fond of puns, jokes and stories, when Franklin told a story he could easily make you envision the place, time and character of the people he was describing.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations be made to:
National Hills Baptist Church,
http://www.nationalhillsbaptist.com
The Shriners Burn Hospital in Galveston, TX
https://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/care/burn-care
Alzheimer’s Association of America
http://www.alzfdn.org