We regret to advise of the death of Lieutenant Colonel John Ronald Barnes (Retd), suddenly, on 27 February 2005. Ron graduated from the Collége du Vieux in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and worked as a city planner in Westmount, Quebec before joining the Canadian Forces later that year.
After completion of his Military Engineering Officer training in Chilliwack, Ron was posted to 1 Field Squadron at CFB Petawawa. In 1973, he was posted to the Construction Engineering Section at CFB Cold Lake for three years and advanced to be Requirements Officer. From there he was posted to CFS Dana, SK as the Station Construction Engineering Officer. Ron then moved to St. Hubert, Quebec for two years with Mobile Command Headquarters. Following this tour, he had two successive three-year assignments as Base Construction Engineering Officer; 1981-84 at CFB Moose Jaw and 1984-87 at CFB Gagetown. This was followed by a posting to CFB Ottawa where he held his third successive assignment of Base Construction Engineering Officer. Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Ron was then posted to AIRCOM Headquarters in Winnipeg as the Senior Staff Officer Environment and Management. The pinnacle of his career followed when he became Commanding Officer of 1 Construction Engineering Unit in Winnipeg 1994-95.
Ron retired from the military after 25 years of service and was employed by Red River College as Facilities Manager. He then accepted a position as Director of Buildings for Winnipeg School Division #1 and in 2002 he returned to Red River College as Project Manager for the Downtown Campus.
Visitation is planned for Thursday, 3 March from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Thompson (In the Park) Funeral Home at 1291 McGillivray Blvd., Winnipeg. Funeral service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, 4 March at St. Aidan's Anglican Church, 274 Campbell Street. In lieu of flowers, Ron's family encourages donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, The Boys' and Girls' Club or the Winnipeg Harvest. {kh22Aug2015}