Through his life Father Thomas Barnes sought to honor God

Father Thomas Barnes, a priest for the Diocese of Covington, died Oct. 28. He was 87 years old.

Thomas Charles Barnes (“Tom”) was born on May 23, 1938, the only child of Charles Joseph Barnes and Florence Evelyn Barnes (nee Simmons). He was born in Grace Hospital, Detroit Michigan. He was Baptized at St. Margaret Mary Church, LeMay Avenue, Detroit on June 26, 1938. He was Confirmed at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Detroit, on June 1, 1950.

Father Barnes attended grades K-8 at Finney Public School in Detroit. He then attended Austin Prep, a Catholic College Preparatory run by the Augustinian Friars in Detroit, for one year (1952-53). He attended St. Augustine Seminary in Saugatuck, Michigan, for his sophomore year, where he met Robert Francis Prevost (later Pope Leo XIV). Father Barnes returned to Austin Prep for his junior and senior years, graduating in 1956.

In 1956, Father Barnes spent the summer at St. Sylvester Benedictive Monastery in Detroit and attended St. Benedict College, Acheson, Kansas, for three semesters, working toward a Bachelor of Science Degree.

On April 1, 1958, Father Barnes entered Gethsemani Monastery in Central Kentucky, where he remained for two years under the guidance of Father Louis Merton (Thomas Merton). Despite his love for monastic life, he decided to leave after two years, maintaining good friendships.

Father Barnes’s experience at Gethsemani profoundly influenced his spiritual life, particularly his commitment to reading and developing an interior life of prayer.

“He had a great respect for Catholicism and the interior life,” said Father Mark Keene, a close friend and vicar general of the Diocese of Covington.

After leaving Gethsemani, Father Barnes returned to Detroit, attended the University of Detroit, and worked on an assembly line for Ford. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree and later enrolled at the Pontifical Institute for Medieval Studies (PIMS) at the University of Toronto, where he earned a Master of Arts degree.

Father Barnes then attended Western Michigan University, earning his Master of Business Administration (MBA). Despite his MBA, his interest in religious life led him to try the Order of Friars Minor. After a few years, he decided he wasn’t called to this life and separated from the Franciscans.

From 1966 to 1968, Father Barnes worked for Mid-American Publishing’s Ultra-Van Division in Hutchinson, Kansas. From 1968 to 1970, he taught business at Kansas State University, Pittsburgh, Kansas. Former students thanked him for his teaching.

“He just seemed to positively change so many people’s lives,” Father Keene said.

From 1970 to 1972, he directed the Wichita Art Association. In 1972, he joined Citizens Union National Bank in Lexington, Kentucky, as executive vice president of the Trust Division, where he developed and expanded the clientele. He was also involved in civic organizations like the Lexington Council for the Arts.

Father Barnes left his position at the bank and Lexington to enter the seminary to study for the Catholic Priesthood in the fall of 1983. It was there that he met, then seminarian, Father Jeff VonLehman, pastor, St. Patrick Parish, Taylor Mill, who remembers Father Barnes as an “active contemplative, he spoke out of a very contemplative mindset,” he said. “You never had a dull conversation with Father Barnes.”

Prior to entering the seminary, Father Barnes’ mother had spoken to him about how he had done so many things in his life and been successful at them except for the one thing that he really wanted, which was to be a priest. Father Barnes figured at his age he probably only had one more chance. He explored the idea with some priests he knew and other friends and decided to try.

At a luncheon at a Chinese Restaurant with some clients of the bank, after he had decided to try the seminary, his fortune cookie at the end of the meal read simply: “You have made the right decision.” Father Barnes taped that fortune into his Christian Prayer Book. It is still there.

Father Barnes studied for the Catholic Priesthood as a seminarian for the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky. He always had a natural gift for counseling people, and so his working toward and achieving a master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling came very naturally.

Father Keene remembered him as a “great listener to people, sort of wedding the spiritual life and emotional growth and maturation of people. He was able to see that as one reality in a pretty neat way.”

Father Michael Hennigen, who succeed Father Barnes’ as pastor in 2019 before moving onto other roles, said, “Father Barnes really cared for people. He was a beautiful listener, and he loved to listen, really a counselor in many ways to many people.”

Father Barnes was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Covington on May 30, 1987. After ordination, Father Thomas Barnes served as a parochial vicar at St. Pius X Parish, Edgewood, for a year. Bishop Hughes asked if he would move to Holy Cross Parish, Latonia, to help Msgr. Elmer Grosser, who had come out of retirement to serve as an administrator of Holy Cross. Father Barnes served as parochial vicar for several years. In 1992 Father Barnes was named pastor of Holy Cross Parish, where he served as pastor until 2019.

During his pastorate at Holy Cross he created a welcoming environment for students and parishioners, recalled Father VonLehman. “He was always so accommodating to me as the chaplain and to the school, to the students. He was always helping to just make a welcoming atmosphere for them,” said Father VonLehman.

Upon Father Hennigens arrival to Holy Cross Parish he remembers Father Barnes, “really stressing the community feel and aspect of Holy Cross. That community included the parish, the elementary school, the high school, Catholic Charities and also the Child Care and Learning Center.”

Parishioner Terry Foster wrote in a Facebook post remembering Father Barnes, “We joined Holy Cross in the summer of 1996. We really felt ‘at home’ and Father Barnes was very much a reason for that … we felt very accepted at both the school and church.” Mr. Foster recalled in a <<Messenger>> interview that when he and his daughter joined Holy Cross Parish his daughter said, “Father Barnes makes going to Mass fun.” Father VonLehman said, “his humor always came out, he had a good sense of humor.”

While Father Barnes will be remembered for many notable things, perhaps most frequently mentioned by people has been that when you were with him you had his undivided attention.

“He was really genuine, he just seemed to really be able to pay close attention to people,” said Father Keene.

Father Barnes had a preternatural ability to see the potential in people and to then ask just the right questions to challenge people to see and believe what he saw in them. Many persons have commented how he “changed their lives.” This would include friends from his high school days, friends at the end of his life and Father Keene who said, “We met at a time in my life when I needed someone like him to be a mentor and really kind of challenge me in ways I needed to be challenged. That was kind of hard at times but I’m very grateful for it in hindsight now.”

Father Barnes’ interests and talents were many and varied. But, underlying it all was a desire to know God through life and to honor God by his life. He was insightful, compassionate, creative, intelligent and always with a great sense of humor. Friendships were always a priority in his life. He always worked hard to establish and maintain friendships that were deep and meaningful.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Nov.15 at Holy Cross Church, Latonia.

This obituary was written by Father Mark Keene and edited by the Messenger staff. The complete obituary is online https://www.connleybrothersfuneralhome.com/obituary/reverend-thomas-charles-barnes/.