Frances Ann Barnett

At 12:23am on August 23, 2025, Frances (Fran) Ann Barnett went to be with the Lord. Surrounded by her children she went peacefully to her Heavenly home. Fran was a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She was a long-time attendee of Fort Mill Church of God and sang in the choir, where she fulfilled her lifelong love of singing, and also attended Central Church of God from its inception in 1977.

Fran was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on Valentine’s Day in 1943 to Frank and Roxie Willis (nee Johnson). She and her parents and five siblings attended Elm Street Church of God, which later became Central Parkway Church of God. Fran attended Withrow High School in Cincinnati, but her social life revolved around church, where the friendships she cultivated remained close throughout her long life.

Fran met Chester (Chet) O. Barnett at Central Parkway Church. They married on November 30, 1963 and they went on to build a family and start a professional audio business in Charlotte, North Carolina, which thrived for nearly twenty-five years. As a musical family, the Barnetts often sang in church and at nursing homes, with Fran front and center singing lead in her beautiful, clear soprano voice.

After retiring from the audio business, Chet and Fran moved to Oklahoma City, where Fran worked for the Howard Hughes Foundation as the assistant to two prominent cancer researchers and later followed them to Kansas City where she continued working for them until her retirement in 2007. They then moved back to North Carolina to be closer to their kids and grandkids, ultimately settling in Fort Mill, South Carolina, where Fran lived out the remainder of her days after the passing of Chet in 2011.

In 2016 Fran found love again and married John Brady, who succumbed to ALS in 2019. From that point on, Fran resided with her daughter Cassandra in Fort Mill.

Fran loved her family dearly and fiercely and is survived by her sisters, Virginia Watson and Margaret Harmon; children, Robert Stamper, Cassandra Emmerling (Austin), Paul Barnett (Jennifer), Deta Vickery (Michael); grandchildren Colby Olliver, Christian Barnett, Abigail Bell, Katelyn Barnett, Evangeline Barnett, Drew Vickery, Delaney Vickery, David Vickery, ; great-grandchildren, Hazyl Bell, Tatum Bell and Octavia Salcido; and an abundance of nieces and nephews.