A piece of Old Fernandina history was lost with the passing of Dora Ball Barnard, 87, who died peacefully on Sunday, March 21st at Baptist Hospital.
Born February 18th, 1923, in Wayne County, West Virginia, Mrs. Barnard was one of six children of John Wesley Ball and Mary Rowe, family names with deep roots in that state. The Balls were farmers of modest means, but their home was rich in home-raised food and love.
Mrs. Barnard came to Fernandina Beach in the 1940s and met her second husband, the late Porter Barnard, at the Palace Saloon on Centre Street. Together the couple ran the popular Porter's Fish Camp on the Old Town waterfront, where an entire county came not only for live bait, but also for a beer and a game of dominoes, fish fries and oyster roasts. Mrs. Barnard was a capable businesswoman as well as a hard worker. After her husband's death in 1973, she continued to run the fish camp from a leased dock on the Amelia River. Even in her 80s, she never lost her love of fishing and could tie a trout rig without reading glasses. She was gifted with a crochet hook, producing and selling her creations. She also read voraciously, was generous to friends and strangers alike, and told a ripping story.
Mrs. Barnard is survived by a sister, Ruth Ball Reid; numerous nieces and nephews, including Denver and Raymond Gue and Brenda Reid Conrad; and stepsons Porter and Dennis Barnard.
She was laid to rest beside her late husband in Bosque Bello Cemetery on March 24th, with Ron West, Charles Fulford, Ron Machado and Michael Harrison among the pallbearers.
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Born February 18th, 1923, in Wayne County, West Virginia, Mrs. Barnard was one of six children of John Wesley Ball and Mary Rowe, family names with deep roots in that state. The Balls were farmers of modest means, but their home was rich in home-raised food and love.
Mrs. Barnard came to Fernandina Beach in the 1940s and met her second husband, the late Porter Barnard, at the Palace Saloon on Centre Street. Together the couple ran the popular Porter's Fish Camp on the Old Town waterfront, where an entire county came not only for live bait, but also for a beer and a game of dominoes, fish fries and oyster roasts. Mrs. Barnard was a capable businesswoman as well as a hard worker. After her husband's death in 1973, she continued to run the fish camp from a leased dock on the Amelia River. Even in her 80s, she never lost her love of fishing and could tie a trout rig without reading glasses. She was gifted with a crochet hook, producing and selling her creations. She also read voraciously, was generous to friends and strangers alike, and told a ripping story.
Mrs. Barnard is survived by a sister, Ruth Ball Reid; numerous nieces and nephews, including Denver and Raymond Gue and Brenda Reid Conrad; and stepsons Porter and Dennis Barnard.
She was laid to rest beside her late husband in Bosque Bello Cemetery on March 24th, with Ron West, Charles Fulford, Ron Machado and Michael Harrison among the pallbearers.
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A piece of Old Fernandina history was lost with the passing of Dora Ball Barnard, 87, who died peacefully on Sunday, March 21st at Baptist Hospital.
Born February 18th, 1923, in Wayne County, West Virginia, Mrs. Barnard was one of six children of John Wesley Ball and Mary Rowe, family names with deep roots in that state. The Balls were farmers of modest means, but their home was rich in home-raised food and love.
Mrs. Barnard came to Fernandina Beach in the 1940s and met her second husband, the late Porter Barnard, at the Palace Saloon on Centre Street. Together the couple ran the popular Porter's Fish Camp on the Old Town waterfront, where an entire county came not only for live bait, but also for a beer and a game of dominoes, fish fries and oyster roasts. Mrs. Barnard was a capable businesswoman as well as a hard worker. After her husband's death in 1973, she continued to run the fish camp from a leased dock on the Amelia River. Even in her 80s, she never lost her love of fishing and could tie a trout rig without reading glasses. She was gifted with a crochet hook, producing and selling her creations. She also read voraciously, was generous to friends and strangers alike, and told a ripping story.
Mrs. Barnard is survived by a sister, Ruth Ball Reid; numerous nieces and nephews, including Denver and Raymond Gue and Brenda Reid Conrad; and stepsons Porter and Dennis Barnard.
She was laid to rest beside her late husband in Bosque Bello Cemetery on March 24th, with Ron West, Charles Fulford, Ron Machado and Michael Harrison among the pallbearers.
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Born February 18th, 1923, in Wayne County, West Virginia, Mrs. Barnard was one of six children of John Wesley Ball and Mary Rowe, family names with deep roots in that state. The Balls were farmers of modest means, but their home was rich in home-raised food and love.
Mrs. Barnard came to Fernandina Beach in the 1940s and met her second husband, the late Porter Barnard, at the Palace Saloon on Centre Street. Together the couple ran the popular Porter's Fish Camp on the Old Town waterfront, where an entire county came not only for live bait, but also for a beer and a game of dominoes, fish fries and oyster roasts. Mrs. Barnard was a capable businesswoman as well as a hard worker. After her husband's death in 1973, she continued to run the fish camp from a leased dock on the Amelia River. Even in her 80s, she never lost her love of fishing and could tie a trout rig without reading glasses. She was gifted with a crochet hook, producing and selling her creations. She also read voraciously, was generous to friends and strangers alike, and told a ripping story.
Mrs. Barnard is survived by a sister, Ruth Ball Reid; numerous nieces and nephews, including Denver and Raymond Gue and Brenda Reid Conrad; and stepsons Porter and Dennis Barnard.
She was laid to rest beside her late husband in Bosque Bello Cemetery on March 24th, with Ron West, Charles Fulford, Ron Machado and Michael Harrison among the pallbearers.
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