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Obituary for Thomas Dye Barnhouse
Thomas Dye Barnhouse, age 97, formerly of Noble County, Ohio, died Monday, December 4, 2006, at Copeland Oaks, Sebring, Ohio. Mr. Barnhouse was a native of Belle Valley, and a retired colonel with the United States Army, having served more than three decades of military service, including combat in the Solomon Islands during World War II. He was born October 26, 1909, one of four sons born to the late William Day and Jessie Pearl Archer Barnhouse. As a child, he was baptized at the former Belle Valley Methodist Protestant Church. He was a 1927 graduate of Belle Valley High School, where he was valedictorian of his class. He received a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Ohio University in 1933. In 1936, he enlisted in Caldwell with the 37th Division of the Ohio National Guard, Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 136th Field Artillery. His division was moblilized at Camp Shelby in Mississippi in 1940. He graduated from the field artillery school at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He served 18 months in the South Pacific, including New Zealand, Fiji Island, and Guadalcanal. He fought in the battle of New Georgia when the Allies took back the island from the Japanese, who invaded and occupied the area. At the time of his retirement in 1969, Colonel Barnhouse was in command of the 37th Division Artillery. He returned to Noble County, accepting a position as deputy county engineer. He later joined Division 10 of the Ohio Department of Highways as an engineer, and ultimately became the deputy director of operations for the Ohio Department of Highways. In 1970, Colonel Barnhouse established his own engineering consulting firm, Barnhouse Associates, Inc., in Columbus, retiring in 1975. His registration as a professional surveyor dates back to 1936. He was a life member of the 37th Division Veterans Association, the U.S. National Guard Association, and the Retired Officers Association. He was a member of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution through his great-great-grandfather, Jacob Kackley, Jr., a captain in the Virginia militia. He also belonged to the First Families of Ohio and its Noble County Chapter, a lineage society honoring ancestors who were early Ohio settlers. He was a member of the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers, and served on the Ohio Board of Registration for Engineers and Surveyors, serving as board president in 1977. He was also a member of the Ohio University Trustees Academy. Colonel Barnhouse was a member of the Sharon Lodge #136, F&AM and was an AASR 32nd degree Mason, and a member of the Alladin Temple Shrine in Columbus. He was also a lifetime member of the Noble County Historical Society. He belonged to the Union Avenue United Methodist Church in Alliance, Ohio. He was preceded in death by his wife, Enid Keith Barnhouse, who died in July, 2004; the mother of his daughter, Florence Mabel King Barnhouse, who died in 1992; and three brothers, Rev. William Carlos Barnhouse, an Army chaplain, Harold Harvey Barnhouse, and Oscar Vernon Barnhouse. Surviving are a daughter, Gloria Kay Barnhouse Stout of Caldwell; his step-children, Nancy Jane Barnhouse of Cleveland and Robert Bolon Barnhouse of Annapolis, Maryland; a first cousin, Leone Barnhouse of Caldwell; a special nephew, Willard Dye (Alice) Barnhouse of Ft. Wayne, Indiana; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins. A graveside service will be held Saturday, December 9, 2006, at 1:30PM at Olive Cemetery, Caldwell, with Pastor Gary Fitzgerald officiating, and military services conducted by the Noble County Veterans Services Organization. Memorial contributions may be made to the Arthritis Foundation - P.O. Box 7669 - Atlanta, Georgia, or online at www.arthritis.org, or to the Noble County Historical Society - P.O. Box 128 - Caldwell, Ohio 43724.
