NORTHPORT | Mary Emma Barnes, age 102, of Northport, died April 3, 2011, at Heritage Health Care. Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at Williamson Cemetery with Rev. Jerry Croft and Rev. Mark Parris officiating and Magnolia Chapel Funeral Home North directing. Visitation will be one hour prior to services at the cemetery.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Largus and Mary Ella Barnes; her brother, William "Fletcher" Barnes, Sr.; and her niece, Ann Barnes Hardwick.

Survivors include her sister, Elizabeth Barnes Thomas of Ft. Payne, Ala.; her nephews, William Fletcher Barnes, Jr., Bob Thomas, and Gary Thomas; and her niece, Linda Barnes.

For Mary Emma, the daughter of former Northport Mayor Largus Fletcher Barnes, education was a passion. She held two degrees from the University of Alabama and received a master's in nutri- tion from Columbia University in 1937. "Education was always stressed in our family", said Barnes' sister, Elizabeth Thomas. During the early part of Barnes' life, she taught at the University of Maryland, the University of Tennessee, and Michigan College before accepting a position with the Georgia Health Department, where she was instrumental in establishing the state's nutrition program. She also gave nutrition lectures at Emory University's School of Medicine and at the University of Georgia. She was a librarian for TCHS for many years; also, a life-long member of Northport First United Methodist Church.

Pallbearers will be Bob Thomas, Gary Thomas, William Fletcher Barnes, Jr., Patton Barnes, William Fletcher Barnes, III, William Fletcher Barnes IV, and David Baumhower.

Honorary pallbearers are friends and neighbors of Northport, members of Northport First United Methodist Church, and friends and staff at Heritage Health Care.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Northport First United Methodist Church or the charity of one's choice.