Birth Date:
1951-10-10
Deceased Date:
2020-08-10
Obituary:
The Life and Legacy of Plato Barnett, Jr.
Plato Evans Barnett, Jr., 68, was born at John Hopkins Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama on October 10, 1951. He was the son of the late Plato Evans Barnett, Sr. and Willie Ella McGhee of Montgomery County, Alabama. During his adolescent years, the family also resided in Augusta, Arkansas. As a child, Plato loved to read Marvel comic books and curated quite a collection over the years. While in Augusta, he enjoyed spending time with his childhood friend, Jerry Smith, who also shared his passion for comics. In 1969, he graduated from George Washington Carver High School in Montgomery, Alabama. After graduation, he returned to Newport, Arkansas where he met life-long friends Purnell Henderson, Wendell Tollerson, Jerry Brandon, Oliver Dillingham, LeRoy Mansko. In 1971, Plato relocated to Little Rock, Arkansas and enrolled in Philander Smith College where he began his pursuits of a degree in Criminal Justice. To finance his college education, Plato gained employment at Burger King Restaurant as an assistant manager. This job afforded him the opportunity to, not only pay his tuition, but also to hire the love of his life, Mary Elizabeth Phillips. As a family, we often joked that they fell in love over a Whopper (Burger King’s claim to fame). On October 21, 1972 they were married in Hermitage, Arkansas. On November 16,1975, they welcomed their first child, Persephone Evonda Barnett and their youngest child, Angela Donyll Barnett, on July 11, 1979. After working full time job during the day at A. O. Smith Inland and going to school part-time at night, Plato achieved one of his life-long dreams and graduated, with honors, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a bachelor’s Degree in psychology and master’s Degree in criminal justice. After, 17 years of diligence and commitment, Plato retired from his job at A.O. Smith Inland and successfully gained employment for the State of Arkansas as Research Specialist for the Department of Community Punishment. Plato was promoted as the Accreditation Administrator for the Arkansas Department of Community Punishment. In conjunction with this job, Plato was also employed as an ACA National Auditor Chairperson and traveled regularly to ensure compliance in community correctional facilities around the United States. In 2014, after 23 years of service, Plato retired from the Arkansas Department of Community Corrections and received the Eagle Award for Outstanding Service. Plato retired in Mt. Dora, Florida. Plato served as the Barnett Family Historian where he spent multiple years researching his family history and creating a historical account of the family lineage, as well as helping other family members understand the lineage within the Barnett Family. Plato was also faithful servant of God and he served as a deacon, sound engineer, “Big Brother” mentor, as well as, multiple other ministries at St. Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas for 24 years. Plato has accomplished many things in his career, church and community. However, to all of us that love and adore him, his greatest legacy will always be his role as husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. He was preceded in death by parents Plato Barnett, Sr. and Willie Ella McGhee Barnett. He was also preceded in death by his brother Sidney Wingfield and God-son Martin Henderson. Left to keep his memories alive and to remember him with love is his wife of 47 years, Mary Barnett; daughters Persephone Barnett and Angela Barnett (Tony); sisters Jacquelyn BarnettCones (Kenneth) and Vanessa Barnett-Livingston (Aaron). Plato’s legacy also lives on with his grandchildren: Ebone Nicole Forbes-Amaro (daughter of Tony Forbes), Alexis McKinlei Forbes, Ashlin Kennedy Forbes, and Alec Jordan Forbes (who are the children of Angela Barnett-Forbes and Tony Curtis Forbes). He is also survived by his aunts: Mable Pryor and Ann Eutsey, his uncle Elvin McGhee and a host of nieces and nephews: Sean Anthony White, Kimberly Cherisse Cones, Kenneth Christopher Cones III, Kendall Corbin Cones, Aaron Livingston Jr., Amber Livingston, Terrence Barnett. Other survivors include his niece Pretrescia Grubbs and God-children: Yendel Jones, Tara Jones, London Johnson, Julian Frederick Johnson, II. He is survived and loved by a host of other loving family and friends.
