Mrs. Walterine Barnwell

Walterine Eudora Barnwell, lovingly known as Walcie, departed this life at the age of 96 on 28 August 2024. Walcie was born on 1 March 1928 at Buxton, Guyana, South America, the second child of the late Walter Henry Gibson and Margaret Isola Gibson. Growing up in Guyana, the eldest girl of fourteen children, Walcie was the cornerstone who led by example and was like a second mother to her younger siblings who sought her advice on all things. Walcie attended Golden Grove Methodist Elementary School, Washington High School, and Mrs. Sargent’s Commercial School where she received her secretarial degree. Upon graduation from Mrs. Sargent’s, Walcie moved to Bartica where she assumed the position of Secretary for the Transport and Harbours Department. After a few years she moved back to Georgetown where she resumed her previous position. At the age of 19, Walcie met Caryl Neville Barnwell. Their five-year courtship culminated in marriage at St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Enmore on 20 December 1952. After she married, Walcie gave up working to assume the most important job of all—raising a family which grew to include five sons and one daughter. While her husband Neville rose to the ranks of District Commissioner, a job which entailed that he travel and work in different states, Walcie settled in Kitty, Georgetown where with God at the helm, she dedicated her love and life to the well-being of her family. Throughout her life Walcie was an honest, faithful wife and mother whose unwavering commitment to her faith and love of God enabled her to persevere during the most troubling times. Walcie continued to raise her children with a strong moral and educational foundation after the untimely death of her husband in April 1975. She was baptized into the Kitty Seventh-Day Adventist Church where she became a colporteur, Deaconess, member of The Dorcas Society, and served as the Treasurer for many years. On 12 October 1986, Walcie emigrated to the United States and settled in Maryland. She enrolled in a business course at Strayer University and in 1987, at the young age of 59 years, she graduated with a business degree. After graduating, Walcie worked as an administrative assistant at the Association for Community Based Education in Washington, D.C. Walcie’s parents Walter and Isola came to live with her and for many years she nurtured and took care of them. When her father died in 1992, Walcie and her mother moved from Maryland to Georgia where she became her mother’s primary caregiver until her death in 2003. In 2007, Walcie joined the Decatur Seventh-Day Adventist Church where she continued her lifetime of service as a Jett Setter and Deaconess while ministering to the prisoners, shut-ins, and poor—touching many lives with her kindness and ever-abundant love. Walcie was predeceased by her loving husband Caryl Neville Barnwell, parents Walter and Isola Gibson; sisters Monica Gibson and Genevieve Moses; and brothers Kenneth Gibson, Henry Gibson, and Edward Gibson. Walcie will be sorely missed and is survived by her children: Caryl Wyndham Barnwell, Joy Moore (Colin), Orin Michael Kenneth Barnwell (Dorina), Gordon Neville Barnwell (Sharon), Peter Nigel André Barnwell (Dacia), Keith Winston Andrew Barnwell (Katherine); sisters: Grace Dudley, Nola Brooms, Joycelyn Langhorne, Jean Pinckney, Hazeline Gibson, Lynette Harrop-Williams; brothers: Robert Gibson (June Ann), Carl Gibson (May), 27 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and countless cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. In lieu of flowers, as per Walcie’s request, please donate to the Decatur Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Community Service and Homeless Ministries.

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Mrs. Walterine Barnwell

March 1, 1928 - August 28, 2024