Ms. Dryden Barnes passed away on Sept. 4, 2018, in Decatur, Ga. She was born in Onancock, on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, in 1935, as the oldest child of Marshall and Frances Barnes. She grew up in and lived in her beloved downtown Annapolis, Md., for much of her adult life. She cherished the area and its history, acting as a docent at the Hammond-Harwood House, working at the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program office until her retirement in 2015 at age 80, and was known for her winning flower arrangements and welcoming personality.
She loved her cat, Jewell, her birds, flowers of all types, as well as The Masters golf tournament. She was well known for sending emails with the entire message in the subject line, for her car, “Geraldine” (with flowers on the antenna), and was characterized by one of her co-workers for “being spunky but sweet,” and by another as her “Annapolis Grandma.”
She is survived by her four children, Paul Larson (Georgia), Karen Tibbits (North Carolina), Matthew Larson (Maryland), and Clare Kennedy (North Carolina); her younger sister, Marsha Tucker, and aunt, Peggy Thompson (both of Annapolis); and her five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Graveside services with urn interment will be conducted at the Mount Holly Cemetery, Hill Street, Onancock, VA 23417, on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, at 2 p.m.
A reception to celebrate Ms. Barnes’ life, will be held on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m., at 410 Severn Ave., Building C (small green building on the waterfront), Annapolis, MD 21403.
Anyone wishing to make a donation in her honor should consider one of the following organizations: Historic Annapolis, James Brice House, 42 East St., Annapolis, MD 21401 (www.annapolis.org), or the Spa Creek Conservancy, P.O. Box 2199, Annapolis, MD 21401 (www.spacreek.net).
Online condolences and memory tributes may be shared with the family at www.williamsfuneralhomes.com
Arrangements were made by the Williams-Onancock Funeral Home.
