Melvil Janet (Odom) Young Barton

Melvil Janet Young (Odom) Barton, age 83 of Whitney passed away Tuesday, October 19, 2021, in Hillsboro. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 am Wednesday, October 27, 2021, at Marshall and Marshall Funeral Directors Chapel in Whitney with Pastor Jay Morris officiating. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery in Irving, Texas. A visitation will be held from 6:00-8:00 pm at the funeral home on Tuesday, October 26. 2021.

Janet Barton was born December 3, 1937, in Jasper, Texas to Otis and Beatrice Lucille (Ener) Odom. She grew up in Jasper, Texas where she graduated from Jasper High School. Melvil was united in marriage to Bobby Ray Young from Kirbyville on June 21, 1957. Together they adopted 2 children, Keela Kay and Shannon Jay. Janet raised her kids, was involved in her local church, the kids’ school functions, and sports events. She made their house a home and she also worked part-time.  Janet worked primarily as an office manager for Real Estate companies in the Dallas Fort Worth area and loved the “people” side of the business. Bobby passed away unexpectedly in 1984 and a few years later, Janet remarried a family friend, Ronnie Arnold, who had a daughter, Tianna Arnold, whom Janet loved as her own. Ronnie passed away after a few years, and Janet lived alone again until she met her soul mate at church, Alton (Kip) Barton. They married on July 15, 1994, in Irving, Texas and thus began their adventure together. Kip and Janet retired to Whitney, Texas around 2000. They traveled across the US in their RV for many years and thoroughly enjoyed their life together and the many friends they made along the way.

Janet was an outgoing woman with a big smile. She and Kip volunteered in various capacities and gladly helped their neighbors. Janet loved Jesus first and served him faithfully since she was a young child. After Jesus, Janet loved her family and the Dallas Cowboys. She did not love to cook, and all the local Whitney restaurants benefitted from that! She was an independent southern lady who never lost her deep East Texas accent and never met a stranger.

Janet was loved and will be missed greatly by family and friends that she is leaving behind.

She is survived by her husband, Alton (Kip) Barton; her children, Keela Narramore and husband, James, Shannon Young, Starr Gulledge and husband Chuck, Angel Williams and husband Steve, Dawn Vincent and husband Mark and Corey Barton and wife, Shanna, her brother, Jack Hodges and wife Sharla; 14 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.