Dr. Marvin L. Barron

Dr. Marvin Lee Barron DMD, aged 100 years and seven months, beloved husband of Maxine Metta Culpepper Barron (deceased November 2015) passed peacefully on May 12, 2026 at their home in Rainsville, Alabama. He was born in Dekalb County, Blake community, at his grandfather Wootens home, on October 12, 1925, to Bernice Lee Barron and Ollie White Barron. Dr. Barron grew up in the Blake community near Rainsville, on Sand Mountain. He attended Bellview School located one and a half miles from Northeast Community College on Hwy 35. The school was named for the Andrew & Sara Bell family as the school was in an open field of the Bell property of 200 acres. He began school in the fourth grade, and from there to Old Powell School at Powell crossroads for grades five through seven. He attended Gadsden School of Trade in 1941, and was sent to Mobile where he welded in the shipyard on defense oil tankers for two years at $1.25 per hour. At the age of twenty, in 1945, Dr. Barron was sent to Fort McClellan and then to Camp Crowder in Missouri for infantry training where he worked in medical supplies for six months. Following the six months, he was shipped to Fort Sam Houston, Texas to take basic training and served until May 30, 1947. September 9, 1947, Dr.Barron went to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa to take the high school equivalency test and passed. He drove the same day to Auburn, slept in his car overnight, and registered to attend Auburn University on September 10, 1947. Dr. Barron and Maxine married March 1949 and they lived in an apartment on Auburn University campus, where he received a B.S. degree in 1953 and a DMD degree from Alabama University in 1957. He was 32 years of age when he received his doctoral degree in dentistry. Dr. Barron never gave up and kept working while attending college trimming hair as a barber, cleaning tables in the cafeteria, watching the overnight telephone switchboard, from 7 PM to 7 AM and then returning to class at 8 AM. Dr. Barron opened his dental office on Main Street in Rainsville July 15, 1957, and practiced dentistry until 2020, a total of 63 years. Dr. Barron built and owned the Rainsville Clinic for a total of $73,000 on Church Street in the early seventies, and owned the clinic until the mid eighties. Dr. Barron also founded and operated the Sand Mountain News, College Trailer Park and Sand Mountain Plaza. Dental and business accomplishments include: State of Alabama President of Childrens Dental Health in the 60’s. President of Fifth District Dental Society in the 70’s President of Alabama Dental Alumni Association 1974 and 1975. Served on Alabama State Board of Health 1973-1978 Served on Advisory Board to Alabama School of Dentistry in the 60’s and 80’s. Served as President and member of the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Dentists in the 80’s Received the University of Alabama Fuller Award, 1985 the highest dental award. Resolution by City Council of Rainsville 2007 as Citizen of the Century Alabama Senate 2007 resolution for 50 years of service as dentist. Golden Eagle Award Auburn University One of Dr. Barron’s greatest pleasures was the founding of Boy Scout Troop 184 for Rainsville. When in the army, Dr. Barron noticed the medical staff and the Boy Scouts (who often carried the flags when marching) were allowed to eat first in the mess hall. This impressed him and he never forgot it and therefore he felt Scouting formed leaders. His love of Rainsville went beyond what most would understand. Sand Mountain Electric and Farmers Telephone Co-op, as well as the Section Waterboard are three of his proudest business organizations he fought to bring to Sand Mountain from Fort Payne. Serving The Rainsville Housing Authority for over 62 years on the Board of Commissions gave him great joy. Plainview High School and Northeast Junior College were passions of Dr. Barron as he knew he did not have the opportunity to attend schools or college on Sand Mountain as a boy. The Rainsville Civitan Club has always been a favorite business organization where Dr. Barron held many friends. With Maxine, they founded and financially supported the Rainsville Public Library for which they never received recognition or acknowledgement for. The first library building was located in an old garage building which Dr. Barron owned behind city hall and is now demolished. The opening of the library was April 5, 1970 and the board members were Dr. Barron, Don Carmichael, Eddie Hamrick, and EB Knox. He had a deep commitment to the Methodist Church and the Upper Sand Mountain Parish and was a founding member of the parish providing a home for the parish for 18 years prior to a new building in Sylvania. Dr. Barron and Maxine attended Robertson’s Chapel where they raised their children and later the Section United Methodist Church which is the church they call their home and church family. In addition to their own personal church life, Dr. Barron served as Pastor of the Haygood United Methodist Church for seven years. Dr. Barron and Maxine had four children, Sheila, Marvin II, Hilda, and Tina, and they were married for 66 years. They are survived as follows: Daughter Sheila married to Steve Cox and daughter Laura Jane Cox. Son Marvin II (deceased) with four children: Marvin III, Carmen & Caitlin Daley, Henry Hob, and Claude. Daughter Hilda married to Arnold Neis. Daughter Tina married to Robert Michaels and her son is Seth Armstrong. Seth is married to Makela with three great grandchildren: Charlotte, Graham, and Bennett.

Dr. Marvin L. Barron

October 12, 1925 - May 12, 2026