Derral D. Barnes

Derral Dean Barnes was born June 24, 1929, to Joseph and Lucy Barnes in Summerfield, Oklahoma. He was born sixth out of eight children. When Derral was a teenager, his family moved to the City of McCallister, where he attended high school.

In 1947, Derral joined the U.S. Army and served as a Radio Operator/Technician. He became an expert in radio communications and Morse Code while serving during the Korean War. After his years of service, he started working as an electrician and mastered his trade.

Derral met Ruby Rains on a blind date in 1951, and they married in 1953. Derral and Ruby had three children together: Gayle, Paul, and Wayne. In 1956, Derral moved his family to Southern California and planted roots in the City of Santa Ana to look for new work as an electrician. They lived in a house on Martha Lane for 38 years.

During that time, Derral and Ruby became members of Bristol Street Baptist Church, where Derral later served as a Deacon. They were faithful servants at this church for 50+ years and followed it as it moved and became the First Baptist Church of Irvine on Yale Ave., and later the First Baptist Church of Tustin on Tustin Ranch Rd. before renaming to Crossroad Church. Derral had the opportunity to use his craft as an electrician and serve on several different mission trips, including three visits to Russia and one to Japan, where he helped build new churches. Derral also served on an Emergency Disaster Relief Team with FEMA and the Red Cross. He responded to New Orleans in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, in addition to Arizona and Florida after other major natural disasters.

Derral was a passionate gardener with a green thumb. He was an avid sports fan and enjoyed watching Oklahoma Sooners football and Los Angeles Lakers basketball. He was also a family man and loved spending time with his 5 grandsons, and 4 great grandchildren.

Derral entered the heavenly presence of our Savior on April 5, 2018, just two days after celebrating his 65th wedding anniversary with Ruby. He is survived by his wife, Ruby, his brothers, Shelby and Aaron, his 3 children, 5 grandsons, 4 greatgrandchildren, and 19 nieces and nephews and their families.

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