Elizabeth Ann Barnes

The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, September 15th, 2025 at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo, AL.

Elizabeth was born as Clara Sue Hooley to Blanche Hooley and an unnamed man on February 14, 1947. She was placed up for adoption, and was adopted by loving parents Kenneth and Lois Schneider, of Nebraska City, NE later that year.

She graduated from Northeast High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, and went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology at Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa. While her husband, Thomas Barnes, was deployed to Vietnam, she completed a certificate to become a Medical Technologist, a career she ultimately retired from.

She was a devoted wife and mother, and sacrificed her career goals to fully support her husband’s career choices. When he joined the U.S. Department of State, she followed him, working in her chosen field when possible. This led her to move with her family to Mexico City, Mexico; La Paz, Bolivia; Ottawa, Canada; and Kiev, Ukraine. She still had many prestigious career highlights, working at laboratories such as Henry General Hospital in Atlanta, GA, Georgetown Hospital in Washington D.C., and Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, VA. She also ran the laboratory at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City for nearly 4 years.

She loved to travel, to see new places and to experience their cultures, as well as their cuisine and shopping.

She is survived by her stepson Tim Brown of Woodstock, Ga.; her daughters Melissa LaBonte of Phoenix, AZ; and Marsha Barnes of Gadsden, AL; as well as her grandsons Devin Brown, Albert LaBonte and Liam Brown. She was preceded in death by her birth mother, her adoptive parents, and her husband.

Memorials can be sent to Rose Acres Rescue, Toe Beans Kitten Rescue, or Passion for Purrs Kitten Rescue to honor her long established love for animals.