Dorothy Earlene Barton

Dorothy Earlene Childress Barton of Orange, Virginia passed away on September 30th, 2026. She spent her life in Honaker, Virginia and the surrounding area. She was preceded in death by her husband, Graham Barton Sr, and daughters Sarah Christine, Katherine Yvonne Barton and her special friend Anne Meade Faulconer. She was a member of St Thomas Episcopal Church during her later years.

She spent most of her life in Honaker, Virginia and worked in the textile factories for many years. She worked so very hard to support her family and providing love and kindness wherever she went. She enjoyed her soap operas and her home shopping as the Post Master and FedEx literally had her number. QVC and HSN was on speed dial. After losing her husband in 2020 she had some time to grieve and have peace until her fall in December 2021. After intense care, multiple surgeries and surviving a heart attack while in the hospital, she was relocated to Orange to remain with her son when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she beat it. Toward the end, she grew weak and tired. She missed her husband and her spark. Her pain and her illness outweighed the tremendous fight she had always had inside her.

She was our rock, our mentor, and caught so many of our tears just as we caught hers. She taught us the most important gift of all was love and forgiveness. For that alone, she will always be cherished in our hearts. Cooper and Bradley, the family dogs, were her daily grandsons, who would go to her room each night before bed and give her kisses before making his way to our bed. It was truly a beautiful sight of pure love as they loved one another and gave themselves to each other without a single word.

This mother loved her children more than life itself. She was a fighter for life and never gave up on any battle set before her. She is survived by her son, Dr. Graham Barton, Jr of Orange, VA, her daughters Mary Brewer of Honaker, VA; Rita Wood of Mt Carmel, IL; Karen Barton of Lawton, OK; two grandsons (Austin & Shane); and five granddaughters (Valerie, Marie , Meagan, Samantha and Sara).

A visitation will be held Friday, October 9, from 5-7PM at Preddy Funeral Home - Orange Chapel. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 10, at 11:00AM, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 119 Caroline St, Orange, VA. Interment will be private.

The following poem summarizes mom and what she would still want to teach us:

Epitaph by Merrit Malloy

When I die
Give what’s left of me away
To children
And old men that wait to die.

And if you need to cry,
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you.
And when you need me,
Put your arms
Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me.

I want to leave you something,
Something better
Than words
Or sounds.

Look for me
In the people I’ve known
Or loved,
And if you cannot give me away,
At least let me live in your eyes
And not your mind.

You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands,
By letting bodies touch bodies,
And by letting go
Of children
That need to be free.

Love doesn’t die,
People do.
So, when all that’s left of me
Is love,
Give me away.