Ronnie Lewis Barnes, 66, of Jarratt, Virginia, passed away on Feb. 11, 2026, at UVA Health Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, surrounded by family, following a three-month stay at Pendleton Manor.
He was born June 4, 1959, in Petersburg, Virginia, and was the son of the late Herman Lewis Barnes and Ida Mae Harrup Barnes.
Mr. Barnes was a 1979 graduate of Sussex Central High School in Sussex, Virginia.
He was a farmer all his life. From a very early age, he knew he wanted to be a farmer, often pretending to be sick so he could stay home from school, only to experience a “miraculous” recovery to help his father on the farm.
He was also an avid deer hunter for most of his life as a member of the Flagtail Hunt Club in Yale, Virginia, though he gave up hunting in his later years.
He never met a stranger. That attitude lives on as he donated his liver and both kidneys so that three other people might continue to live.
Surviving are his three sisters, Diane Buntyon (Eddie) of Rhoadesville, Virginia, Sandy Banty of Yale, Virginia, and Pam Dahmer (Roger) of Franklin; nieces, April (AP) Reynolds (Brad), Sheena Gilreath (Vince), and Erin Boswell (Tony); nephews, Joey Banty (Ashleigh), Justin Dahmer, and Ryan Dahmer (Emily); several great-nieces and -nephews and an uncle, Lonnie Barnes.
He has been cremated. There will be no funeral or memorial service.
