Roll Call Tribute

Liston Merrell Barber 

January 31, 1926 - March 17, 2025 

Services will be held for Liston Barber at 10:00 on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at First Baptist Church, Van, with Dr. Shelby Davidson officiating. A reception and visitation will follow. He will be laid to rest at Holly Springs Cemetery, next to his wife, Alice. Grandchildren will serve as pallbearers.

Liston Merrell Barber was born January 31, 1926 in Martins Mill, where he lived all of his life. Liston enlisted in the US Navy right after high school and served during WWII. He then attended college at TJC and Texas A&M (Class of 1950). He farmed for a few years before accepting an ag teaching position at Canton ISD. He was also the high school principal at Canton in the early 60’s. In 1966, Mr. Barber went to work at Van ISD as the Director of Business Services and then served as Superintendent until retirement in 1981. He was inducted into the Van ISD Hall of Fame in 2017. He was a longtime member of the First Baptist Church of Van.

Liston was an avid reader and enjoyed playing Wordle, Sodoku, and doing crossword puzzles. He loved to fish for crappie, raise cattle, mow his yard (which he just did this last weekend), and exercise with his friends at Anytime Fitness in Canton. He also followed Van and Martins Mill sports faithfully.

Mr. Barber passed away at the age of 99 on March 17, 2025 in Athens. He was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Alice Barber (2020); parents, Ervin Dekalb Barber and Sarah Ellen Hobbs Barber; two twin sisters that died in childhood, Mildred and Margaret; and three siblings in adulthood, Billy Brown Barber, Quentin Ervin Barber, and Quana Ellen Barber.

Survivors include his three children and their spouses, Jeff & Laurie Barber of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Tony & Kim Barber of Fort Worth, Texas, and Laurie & Michael Meyer of Northern Virginia; grandchildren and their spouses, Ellen & Tom Malmanger, Rosel Meyer, Grayson & Emily Barber, Richard & Alyssa Meyer, Carlie & Parker Hutchins, Liston & Alex Barber, and Avery Barber; and great-grandchildren, Porter, Hallie, Olivia, Lucy, Cora, Beau, and one on the way.