Richard Barge Thrived With Timberlands

Charles Richard Barge, better known as Richard, a longtime leader and innovator in timberlands management and who helped to build a modern sawmill in the late 1980s, and who was highly honored by the Mississippi forestry industry, died April 22 in Macon, Miss. He was 94.

Born in Merdian, Miss. to Charles Alexander Barge and Bonnie Inez Furr Barge, Richard grew up in a timber industry environment. His dad owned pine and hardwood sawmills in Mississippi, called C. A. Barge Lumber, which were sold in the 1950s, but prior to that had purchased 60,000 acres of timberland from Sumter Timber Co.

Richard lived with his family in Louisville until his father purchased a sawmill in Ethel, and then they moved to Jackson where Richard attended Bailey Junior High and Central High School. At Central, he was in ROTC and became a starter on the football team. He graduated in 1949 as a Forty-Niner as that class proudly called themselves.

Barge attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, and in 1951 married Laura Inez Deavenport of Macon. They attended Bob Jones together, and the following year, Mississippi College. They resided at Lake Forest Ranch in Macon as Richard began working with his dad in the family timberlands. They were to have four children and be married for 72 years.

Upon Charles’ death in 1959, Richard took over the family’s tree farming business, C. A. Barge Timberlands, and started a system of hardwood brush control on upland pine sites and cultivated hardwood on the bottomlands. He also installed a system of ditched, graveled roads that allowed the timber to be harvested year-round. Barge managed the family forest for 50 years, and in his honor the family named the forest The Charles Richard Barge Forest.

In 1983, Governor William Winter appointed Barge to serve on the Mississippi Forestry Commission. And in July 1987 he was elected Chairman of the Commission, serving until 1989.

Barge founded Barge Forest Products Co. in 1985 as a pole mill and with his son, David, designed and built a sawmill in 1990 in Macon that continues to be recognized for its high-quality products today and provides 80 jobs for Noxubee County.

Barge served as President of the Mississippi Forestry Assn. in 1998 and was a Director Emeritus at the time of his death. He was a member of MFA for more than 60 years. In October 2016, he was awarded the Meritorious Service to Forestry Award, which is MFA’s highest honor.

Barge served on the Board of Directors of the local bank, which was then Merchants and Farmers Bank of Macon. He served as a board member from 1967 to 2002, a period of 35 years. In 1994, he was elected Chairman of the board, and he served until he retired in 2002. The bank changed its name during his chairmanship to BankFirst Financial Services.

Through the years, Barge served as a Deacon, a Sunday School Teacher, and Song Director at Calvary Baptist Church and later served at First Baptist Church with his excellent voice by singing in the choir.

Barge served as Operations Director of the youth Christian camp founded by his parents, Lake Forest Ranch, now in its 75th year of operation.

Barge was predeceased by his wife, Laura Inez (2023), and a son, Mark Kevin. He is survived by a daughter, Rebecca Anne Cowan (Micky), a son, Charles David (Yvonne), a son, Richard William, three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and a sister, Betty Jean Morris.

Funeral services were held April 29 at Calvary Baptist Church, followed by Interment in Oddfellow Cemetery.