Joyce Ann Barber

Joyce Ann Barber was born to Richard Wainwright and Winifred McCanless Barber on November 11, 1931. Her first ancestor in America was Dr. Luke Barber, who arrived in St. Mary’s County, Maryland from Yorkshire, England in 1654. Dr. Barber’s great-grandson, Elias Barber, joined his brother Jonathan and twenty-two other Episcopalians in migrating to Western Rowan County in 1794. The Barber farm, where Joyce Ann was raised, has remained in the family since that time. Joyce Ann loved the farm and worked with her sister Rebecca to restore and preserve the land, the two houses, and thirteen other historic farm buildings. Her work in preserving the farm was recognized by Preservation North Carolina in awarding her the 2009 Gertrude S. Callaway Preservation Award. Joyce Ann was a member of the First Families of Maryland and the Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is also being inducted into the National Society Daughters of Founders and Patriots of America. She was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Cleveland, which is located on land donated by her ancestors Elias and Elizabeth Wainwright Barber. Joyce Ann loved small children and worked with them for over twenty years as a nurse’s aide at the North Carolina Orthopedic Hospital for Children in Gastonia until that facility closed. Joyce Ann is survived by her sister Rebecca Jane Barber Floyd, brother-in-law Charles Frederick Floyd, and Mitat Floyd, all of the home. Joyce Ann was long-time supporter of the Land Trust for Central North Carolina and its objectives, placing, along with her sister Rebecca, a conservation easement on the farm with the Land Trust to ensure its preservation. The Joyce Ann Barber Heritage Forest and Nature Preserve on the Barber farm has been named in her honor. The family requests that any memorials be made in Joyce Ann’s name to the Land Trust for Central North Carolina, PO Box 4284, Salisbury, 28145. The family wishes to thank the staff of Best of Care Assisted Living in Kannapolis for their extraordinary, able, and compassionate care of Joyce Ann over the past five years. Joyce Ann’s funeral will be held at Christ Church in Cleveland, Friday November 30th at 3:00. Burial in the Barber plot in the church cemetery will follow.

Joyce Ann Barber

November 27, 2012