Edith Ann d’Aquin Barney

Ann Barney leaves a path of love, friendship, and positive influence that inspires all who knew her. Ann was born in Baton Rouge in June 1938. She often described her cozy, supportive childhood where she learned to appreciate all life had to offer. She loved going with her parents to Third Street to see movies and to York, Alabama and New Orleans to spend time with her extended families.

Ann graduated from Baton Rouge High School in 1956. She studied at Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women’s University) and then at LSU where she was a member of the Delta Zeta sorority. She loved to learn and went back to LSU in the early 1980s to study French. She served on the PTO at Magnolia Woods Elementary School, as a Docent at the Rural Life Museum, and on the Care Committee at University United Methodist Church. She worked for years as a manufacturer’s representative in the lawn and garden business in the family’s 5-B Enterprises, Inc.

Most of all, Ann loved people. Family was the most important thing to her. She lived her values and instilled them by example. She was a wonderful wife, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was “Nanann” to her grandchildren and great-granddaughter and to many others. Everywhere she went, she built relationships and friendships. She cherished her friends and turned strangers into friends as fast as she could.

Ann was incredibly curious, active and well-rounded. She loved reading, tennis, yoga, walking, music, cooking, sewing, hunting, football, pets, movies, tv shows, news, parties, and especially conversation. She marveled at nature and thrived in the yard; she was always planting, weeding, digging, tending her bird feeders and chatting with whoever passed by. She loved to travel, especially to Paris, and had been to every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

Ann thought life experiences had so much to offer, and she embraced them. With her boundless energy, she created wonderful experiences for so many. She also created places for those experiences to happen. A welcoming home with a large table where she cooked delicious, abundant meals. A beloved family Farm (complete with a rustic Chapel) where she shared her love of family, the outdoors, comradery, planning the next project, freedom to roam or sit, good times around the bonfire built by her favorite exercise “drag and burn,” picking blueberries and vegetables that she called gifts from God, and visiting with her Farm neighbors.

She was beautiful, kind, strong as nails, smart, disciplined, and determined—all with a smile on her face and an incredible disposition. Ann passed away peacefully surrounded by family and her beloved dog Lulu on October 30, 2026.

She is survived by her sons Brent d’Aquin Barney (Ann), Scott Cameron Barney (Jane), and Charles Gordon Barney, Jr. (Dana); her grandchildren Cameron Barney Neumann (Michael), Catherine Elizabeth Barney, and Benjamin Joseph Barney; and her great-granddaughter Francine Blake Neumann. She leaves behind her beloved d’Aquin and Cameron cousins. She also leaves behind her many friends she loved so much-- the BB’s, the LaLa’s, the Red Hats, neighbors (Rainford Rd, Mag Woods and the Farm), the Front Porch group, her yoga group, her Church groups, the “Frosted Flakes” tennis team, her children’s and grandchildren’s families and friends who became her friends, and her sweet dog Lulu. She is preceded in death by her husband Charles Gordon Barney, Sr. (“Papa G”), her parents Joseph Henry d’Aquin, Jr. and Alice Frances “Jerry” d’Aquin, and her grandson Joseph Blake Barney.

The family wishes to express deep gratitude to the MD Anderson Cancer Center for their excellent, individualized and compassionate care of Ann--giving her six years of happiness and adventure after her stage IV lung cancer diagnosis at age 82. Many thanks for Dr. Eric Singhi and his colleagues Linda Soy and Amy Wallace. As Ann would say, she put her life in Dr. Singhi’s hands and he always tried to help her without harming her. Thanks to the incredible doctors and nurses at the MDA hospital who cared for her in the last weeks with extraordinary personal attention and the highest standards and who, of course, became her friends.

A Memorial Service will be held Wednesday, November 25, 2026 at University United Methodist Church at 3350 Dalrymple Dr. in Baton Rouge, with visitation 10:30 a.m. to 12:00, service at 12:00 Noon, and a reception to follow in Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Angel Flight South Central, University United Methodist Church, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, or the charity of your choice.