Doris B. Barnes

On July 24, 2020, Doris Louise Boyd Barnes of Washington, DC died of sudden heart failure. A fourth generation Washingtonian, Doris was born on September 9, 1922, to Julia Walker Boyd and William Boyd. She attended DC public schools, graduating from Dunbar High School in June 1939 and then attended Howard University. She married Norman Haywood Barnes, another lifelong Washingtonian, on August 5, 1943 and was married for 59 years until his death in August 2002.

She spent her entire working career with the U.S. Government as a statistical analyst, predominantly with the Bureau of the Census but with a couple detours to the Treasury Department. A 67-year resident of Brookland area of DC, she loved to go crabbing and entertain with Norman at their weekend house on the Chesapeake Bay at Columbia Beach, MD. She was a lifelong member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church and an ardent volunteer in its scouting programs. Doris was a keen dressmaker and, because she was so organized, was always elected treasurer wherever she volunteered.

She leaves behind a son, N. Kurt Barnes, currently the chief financial officer of The Episcopal Church; his partner, Charles de la Rock; a sister, Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville, the second African American woman to earn a PhD in Mathematics; and two devoted caregivers, Sharon McNair and Tabitha Thompkins, who became family to her over the last 10 years.

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