Services for Sgt. 1st Class Romeo Arness Barnes, of Brookhaven,are 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, at Alexander Junior High School withburial in Hillcrest Cemetery in Brookhaven. Williams Mortuary is incharge of arrangements.

Visitation is Friday from 1 until 5 p.m. at the funeral home,with family hour from 6 until 7 p.m. at Macedonia M.B. Church inBrookhaven.

Barnes, 42, died Oct. 28, 2006, at Southwest MississippiRegional Medical Center in McComb. He was born in Brookhaven onAug. 4, 1964, to Jesse Barnes Sr. and Lou Ertis Barnes-Bowman.

He was a 1982 graduate of Brookhaven High School and attendedAlcorn State University. He was a member of Macedonia M.B. Churchand Joshua Lodge No. 249 and Friendship Lodge No. 923. As acivilian, he was employed with Waggoner Engineering Co., inJackson.

In April 1984, Sgt. 1st Class Romeo Arness Barnes began hismilitary career when he joined the Mississippi Army National Guardas an infantryman with Company C, 1/155th Infantry Battalion inBrookhaven. In November 1990 he was called to active duty insupport of Desert Storm/Desert Shield, and again in August 2004 forOperation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom. He was servingat Camp Shelby with the 3-349 Infantry, 3/87 Division as part ofOperation Warrior Trainer.

Throughout his career, Sgt. 1st Class Barnes received numerousaccolades and awards: the Army Reserve Components AchievementMedal, Army Commendation Medal, Global War of Terrorism ServiceMedal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, ArmyService Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq CampaignMedal, Mississippi War Medal, Armed Force Reserve Medal (2),Non-Commissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbon andOverseas Service Ribbon. He also was presented several stateawards, including the Mississippi War Medal (2), MississippiLongevity Medal (3), and Mississippi Service School Ribbon.

Preceding him in death were his father; his brothers, WillieBruce Barnes and Lorenzo Barnes; his grandparents, Mary Alice andBrady Johnson, R.A. and Savannah Barnes, and Ella Mae Merchant.

Survivors are his wife, Felicia Merchant Barnes, of Brookhaven;his mother, Lou Ertis Barnes-Bowman, of Brookhaven; his stepfather,James Earl Bowman, of Brookhaven; his sons, Cearic Barnes, RomeoBarnes and Barwoski Dodds, all of Brookhaven; his daughter,Tavithia Porter, of Brookhaven; his brothers, Jesse Barnes Jr., ofHolly Springs, Jeffery Johnson and wife Wanda, of Baton Rouge, La.,Terrell Bowman, of Los Angeles, Calif., and Fredrick Bowman, ofIndianapolis, Ind.; his sisters, Regina Washington and husbandSuverdo, Cynthia Watson and Karen Barnes, all of Brookhaven, BonnieWilliams, of Portsmouth, Va., Ann Handy, of Inglewood, Calif.,Catherine Paschall and husband Will, and Bridgette Bowman, all ofIndianapolis, Irma Ammons, of Weed, Calif., and Mary Fairman, ofTacoma, Wash.; his grandfather, John Henry Dixon, of Caseyville;his grandmother, Bertha Mae Bowman, of Wesson; his twograndchildren, and many other nieces, nephews and otherrelatives.