Joseph Banner 'Joe' Barnes

| June 22, 2006 9:00 PM

Joseph Banner "Joe" Barnes passed away in Sandpoint, Idaho, at his home on June 22, 2006.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, 2006, at St. Agnes Episcopal Church, Sixth and Oak, in Sandpoint with the Rev. JP Carver officiating. Interment will be held at Pack River Cemetery.

Joe was born Sept. 23, 1930, in Omaha, Neb., to Lynn and Dorothy Barnes. He was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. His family moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where he graduated from Washburn High School. He then attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a five-year degree in electrical engineering. He worked in the General Electric test program in Cincinnati, Ohio, Pittsfield, Mass., and Schenetady, N.Y. He returned to Minneapolis to work for Northern States Power and other electrical firms.

In 1957, he married Marjorie Louise Charter in Stafford Springs, Conn. They lived in Bloomington, Minn., where they raised three children. They later moved to Sandpoint. Joe built his own house on a 75-acre Christmas tree farm in 1974 and had lived there the past 32 years.

Joe enjoyed falconry and, at one time, proudly trained and flew a golden eagle. He maintained a lifelong love of flying after earning his pilot's license as a teen. Other hobbies included sailing, fencing and his love of dogs. He enjoyed growing Christmas trees and helping his grandchildren pick out their yearly tree. Every December, he would cut and mail the chosen tree halfway across the country.

Joe is survived by his wife, Marjorie Barnes of Sandpoint; three children, Mary (Scot) Davis of Owatonna, Minn., David (Susan) Barnes of Spokane, Wash., and Patricia (Mike) Przybylski of Mica, Wash.; a sister, Mary Lynn (William) Fahlgren of Sequim, Wash.; six grandchildren, Alyssa, Colin and Ashley Davis, and Andrew, Mark and Joseph Przybylski; a niece and a nephew.

Memorials may be donated to Bonner Community Hospice, P.O. Box 1443, Sandpoint, ID 83864.

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint.