Nancy Barr

Nancy Carolyn Denny Barr, 85, passed away Thursday, February 2, 2023. She was born March 20, 1937, in Moore County to the late John Allen Denny and Jessie Cooper Denny. Nancy was the oldest of five siblings raised on the Denny tobacco farm.

At Cameron School, she joined the Debate Club and graduated as valedictorian of her 1954 class. After two years of study at Greensboro Women’s College, Nancy married James E. Barr in 1959 and made a home in Winston-Salem. In 1961, they built a home in northern Davidson County, where they raised two sons and stayed for the rest of their lives.

Nancy entered the workforce as a secretary for executives at RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. She later enjoyed a long career as office secretary at Wiley Middle School, where she was often commended by Principal Jay Wise for her hard work, infrequent absences, and ability to “keep things in perspective” for students and faculty. Nancy’s “calming attitude” was credited with the safe evacuation of the school when a student intruded with a gun in 1986.

Nancy was widowed in 1996 and retired from Wiley Middle School a year later. By this stage of her life, she was known throughout the family as Momma Barr, beloved as an attentive grandmother, sister, aunt, and cousin to all in the Denny and Barr clans. She increasingly divided her time between her home in Clemmons and a residence on family land in the Ashe County hamlet of Lansing. Through the last days of Covenant Presbyterian Church, which held its final worship service on the Sunday preceding her death, she was a pillar of the congregation and a strong voice in the choir.

In addition to her parents, Nancy is preceded in death by her loving husband, James E. Barr; granddaughter, Morgan Nancy Barr; and brother, Henry Denny.  She is survived by two sons, Scott Barr (Liz) and Darren Barr (Betty); four grandsons: Cameron Barr (Jackson), Peyton Barr, Joe Mettler, and Blake Mettler; two granddaughters, Natalie Barr and Selene Barr; two sisters, Melany McFall (Walter) and Kathy Lawhon (Robert); brother, Ray Denny (Jan); sister-in-law, Bonnie Denny; brother-in-law, George Barr (Jolene); her church family of Covenant Presbyterian Church; special friends and neighbors, Ray and Ruth Caudle; and numerous loving nieces and nephews.

Visitors are invited to greet the family at 10 AM on Tuesday, February 7th at Hayworth-Miller Silas Creek Funeral Home. A memorial service will take place in the funeral home chapel at 11 AM, with Rev. Jeff Sockwell of Shallowford Presbyterian Church presiding. Rev. Cameron Barr will preside at a service of interment later in the afternoon, at 3:30 pm, at Helton Community Cemetery in Ashe County, NC.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Children’s Home, P.O. Box 1288, Lexington, NC 27293, the Pastors Pantry, P.O. Box 2051, Lexington, NC 27293, or West Davidson Food Pantry, 4600 W Old Hwy 64, Lexington, NC 27295.