Barry Winn Hall
In Loving Memory
Barry Winn Hall, 60, died Nov. 23, 2022, in St. Joseph, Missouri.
A native of southeast Kentucky, Hall lived and worked for several decades in Louisville, Kentucky. He and his husband, Ron Johnson, moved to St. Joseph in December 2018.
From 2006 until his death, he was a Pro Services specialist for Lowe’s Home Improvement, providing sales, planning and customer service to contractors. He began with Lowe’s in Louisville, Kentucky, before moving to stores in Bloomington, Indiana, and St. Joseph.
Barry was born in Hazard, Kentucky, on Feb. 10, 1962. He graduated from Dilce Combs High School, Jeff, Kentucky, in 1980 and earned an associate’s degree in business management from Hazard Community College in 1986.
He worked as an architectural draftsman for H.A. Spalding Engineers, in Hazard, and as a personal assistant for the founder, Henry A. Spalding. He also worked as a bank teller in Hazard and Louisville; co-owned the home-decor store Jeffrey Winn Designs, in Louisville, with his former partner, Mark J. England, from 1999-2003; and worked as an assistant branch manager and operations manager for BB&T Bank, Louisville.
He met Ron in 2013, and they married on Dec. 12, 2015, at Beck Chapel, on the campus of Indiana University, Bloomington. Johnson was then director of IU Student Media, and it was the first same-sex marriage in the historic chapel.
In St. Joseph, he and his husband were active members of the First Christian Church, an affirming congregation, and he was a proud friend and advocate for LGBTQ+ people.
Barry was a life-long Dolly Parton fan and collector, after first seeing her perform at Hazard’s Memorial Gym, on Oct. 11, 1975, when he was 13. He attended more than 75 of her concerts, made regular trips to Dollywood and curated a complete vinyl and disc collection, as well as commissioned art, images, books and personal memorabilia.
In July 2021, Barry was diagnosed with advanced cholangiocarcinoma, cancer of the bile ducts. He received exceptional care from Mosaic Life Care, St. Joseph, and the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Preceding him in death were his parents, Bobby H. Hall, in 1999, and Maxine (Gillum) Hall, in 2016; and his brother, Jeffrey “Kim” Hall, in 2016.
He is survived by his husband, Ron Johnson, St. Joseph; sister Stephanie (Jamie) Workman, Louisville; stepsons Nate Johnson, Wichita, Kansas, Nicholas Johnson, Panorama City (Los Angeles), California, and Greg Johnson, Lawrence, Kansas; and mother-in-law Joy L. Johnson, St. Joseph.
Also surviving Barry is his beloved Yorkshire terrier, Max, whom he and Ron adopted as a rescue in 2014 and named upon the advice of Barry’s mother, Maxine.
Per Barry’s instructions, there was no memorial ceremony, and his ashes were scattered on a Kentucky mountainside.