Waddell Barnes, namesake of Middle Georgia State’s botanical gardens, remembered

Waddell Barnes, a retired Macon physician credited with developing the botanical gardens at Middle Georgia State College, died Tuesday at age 89.

“Dr. Barnes’ legacy is one of his volunteer work, ... not only making the campus better but this region better,” said David Sims, assistant vice president of facilities at Middle Georgia State. Sims said he met with Barnes as recently as two weeks ago to plan additions to the campus gardens.

“We will carry his work forward,” he said.

Born in Macon, Barnes was the younger brother of the late Emmett Barnes, who went on to become a prominent Macon businessman and real estate developer. Waddell Barnes attended Lanier High School, Mercer University and Harvard Medical School. He served twice in the U.S. Navy and in 1951 was the ship’s doctor on a destroyer during the Korean War, according to his obituary.

In 1955, Barnes returned to Macon from military service to begin his private medical practice and quickly made a name for himself. He was the first physician to serve on the Macon Hospital Authority and promoted the development of The Medical Center of Central Georgia, now known as Medical Center, Navicent Health.

Dr. Frank Kelly said Wednesday that he knew Barnes -- who in 1973 had one of the world’s first heart bypasses -- for more than half a century.

“He was one of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever known and one of the best physicians,” Kelly said. “He was an extremely intelligent and very compassionate physician, and he was a born teacher.”

When Kelly was in college, Barnes invited him to make hospital rounds with him and a group of interns.

“His patients absolutely loved him,” Kelly said of Barnes, who specialized in internal medicine and oncology. “He was the kind of fellow that, if a doctor had a problem or needed help making a diagnostic on someone, ... Waddell was who you’d go to.”

After retiring in 1991, Barnes began to explore his interest in horticulture.

He received the master gardener designation from the University of Georgia and hit on the idea of developing botanical gardens at Middle Georgia State, where he had served on the college’s foundation and board of trustees.

Over the years, the gardens -- which the Georgia Board of Regents named after him in 2003 -- expanded to include Southern sugar maples, black gums, bur oaks, camellias, magnolias and a tea garden where leaves can be picked for brewing tea.

A tornado in the spring of 2008 destroyed 90 percent of the campus’ tree canopy, but Barnes was right back at work planning how to rebuild the gardens.

“Dr. Barnes was not discouraged in the least,” said Sims, who recalled that Barnes was already talking about future plans for the gardens even before cleanup from the Mother’s Day tornado was complete.

In a Wednesday message to Middle Georgia State faculty and staff, college President Christopher Blake offered condolences to Barnes’ family.

“Dr. Barnes was eminently skilled in many fields -- gardening among them,” Blake said in his emailed message. “My hope is that we who are tasked with educating the next generation of leaders in Georgia will look to his example and encourage students to emulate Dr. Barnes’ passion for cultivating service, something he practiced as both an art and a science.”

A memorial service is scheduled for Barnes at the Middle Georgia State conference center at 11 a.m. Saturday.

To contact writer Andy M. Drury, call 744-4477.

This story was originally published October 8, 2014 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Waddell Barnes, namesake of Middle Georgia State’s botanical gardens, remembered ."