Donna Yvonne Barr
Born October 25, 1935 in Cherokee, OklahomaDeparted January 4, 2024 in Palm Bay, Florida
Donna Yvonne Barr, 88, passed away peacefully on January 4, 2024 in Palm Bay, Florida. She was born on October 25, 1935 in Cherokee, Oklahoma to Everett and Dilla Hadwiger. In 1958 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Family Relations and Child Development from Oklahoma State University and married Bill Barr (Dover, Oklahoma). Donna was an elementary school teacher for 5 years before settling down in Lexington, Kentucky in 1964 where she and Bill lived for 40 years while he taught at Lexington Theological Seminary and they raised two children (Greg and Jennifer).
She was active at Crestwood Christian Church and volunteered with Helping Hands providing support to Alzheimer’s patients. She enjoyed traveling and lived for a year each in England, California and Costa Rica as part of Bill’s sabbatical years with the Seminary. After Bill retired in 1997, they spent time in Sebring, Florida before moving to Palm Bay in 2004. She was active at First Christian Church Melbourne and they volunteered at Daily Bread and Meals on Wheels.
Donna showed compassion and care for friends and church members, often sending encouragement by hand-written note cards and visiting. She was interested in people and would strike up a friendly conversation with anyone she met. She liked reading, taking walks and observing the beauty of God’s natural world: sunrises and sunsets, flowers and birds.
Donna is survived by son Greg; daughter Jennifer Morgan (Todd) and grandsons Tyler and Carson; brother Jim Hadwiger (Rozella) and sister Sandra Skinner and several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband Bill Barr and infant daughter Suzanne Marie Barr; parents Everett Arthur Hadwiger and Dilla Francis Hadwiger.
Services will be held Saturday, January 27 at 11 am at First Christian Church Melbourne, 2010 S. Babcock Street, Melbourne, Florida 32901.
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to First Christian Church Melbourne.
