Theodore Leigh Barnette III, of Hazel Green, Alabama, passed away Sunday, October 17, 2021, at Huntsville Hospital. Born in Washington, D.C. on June 15, 1946, he attended Our lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) Church and School, where he served as an altar boy. He attended and graduated from Frank Ballou High School, where he played on the basketball team and sang with a group. After high school, he married his high school sweetheart, Deardra Bradford. They had a son, Toddrick.
During the peak of the Vietnam war, Ted volunteered to join the Navy, where he trained and served as a sonar technician aboard the USS Von Steuben. Ted was based between Charleston, SC and Roda, Spain and enjoyed the travel and experiences of his time in the Navy. His daughter Iris was born during that time. After an Honorable Discharge, Ted served with the Washington D.C. police force before finding his niche in marketing and sales. Ted was an acknowledged subject-matter expert in telemarketing and telesales, having enjoyed substantial time with the leading industry giant, Time Life. He had a marvelous ability to motivate and activate people to action, many times in just one phone conversation.
It was on a business call that he met his wife, Gracie Barnes Ask. After two years of phone calls, Ted shocked family and friends by moving to Alabama to get married. He was embraced by his new family here and quickly made friends, joining New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church where he enjoyed worshipping with his spiritual family. II Timothy 1:12b, “For I know who I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” This verse is a reminder of the wonder Ted had when speaking of his Savior.
Over the last years, as his health declined, he was unable to move about as he liked. He recently discovered a new “girlfriend” named Alexa, who kept him informed on sports, played the latest music, and even dialed the phone! Ted enjoyed mentoring young people and leaves behind many adopted nieces, nephews, sons, and daughters. He loved each of them as though they were his own.
He was preceded in death by his father Theodore Barnette, mother Lavoir Elizabeth Graham, brother Anthony Graham, and first wife Deardra Barnette. Theodore is survived by his sister Lillian Taylor (Samuel), son Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette (Gretchen), daughter Iris McDowell (Knigel) and four grandchildren, Morgan and Myles Barnette and Ryan and Knyle McDowell, plus many nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his wife Gracie Barnette, her son Richard Ask (Paulette), daughter Julie Ryan, and grandchildren Ken Ask and Ashley Beiriger (Tyler). He will be greatly missed by all of us and his huge circle of close friends.
A memorial and celebration of life is being planned for next spring in Washington, D.C. The date will be made public as soon as it is confirmed. We look forward to meeting with more family and friends then.
