Richard Fulton Barksdale died on October 21, 2022, after a long illness. He was born on September 17, 1933, in Holmes County, Mississippi, to Julian Ray Barksdale, Sr., and Eunice Jones Barksdale. His father was a school administrator, teacher, and coach and also an officer in the U. S. Army Reserves. His mother was a teacher, librarian, and homemaker.
He held various jobs during his school years and graduated from Madison-Ridgeland High School in 1951 and from Millsaps College in 1955 before receiving an MBA specialized in accounting from the University of Florida in 1956. In that same year, he married Carolyn Eugene Taylor on November 25, received the year’s highest score on Mississippi’s examination for becoming a Certified Public Accountant, and entered the United States Army, where he served in South Carolina, Colorado, and Bavaria.
Before and after his military service, he worked for a large accounting firm in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1960, he and his wife moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he worked for another accounting firm before co-founding Barksdale, Joe & Magee, PLLC, where he remained until retiring in 2007 to move with his wife to Huntsville, Alabama, to be closer to their children and grandchildren. In retirement, he read, exercised, socialized with new friends, and helped with the grandchildren.
His parents and older brothers, Julian Ray Barksdale and William Erwin Barksdale, predeceased him. He is survived by his wife Carolyn; daughter, Nancy Barksdale Capps, wife of Charles David Capps; grandchildren, Eliza Jane Capps and Benjamin David Capps, all of Huntsville; and by his son, Alan Fulton Barksdale of Madison, Alabama.
As a teenager, he was saved at a summer revival at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Rankin County, Mississippi, and baptized in a farm pond. In Jackson, he was member of Broadmoor Baptist Church. In Huntsville, he joined Whitesburg Baptist Church.
The family will have a private graveside service at Huntsville’s Maple Hill Cemetery. A memorial service in Jackson is planned tentatively for a later date.
Memorials may be made to the Prostate Cancer Foundation (www.pcf.org), the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (www.themmrf.org), or Whitesburg Baptist Church (www.whitesburgbaptist.org).
