03/02/2026
The family of Donald Walter Barnes announces his passing on February 28th after a prolonged illness. He was 88 years old. He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, the former Patricia G. Kirsch and his four adult children, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Don Barnes had a wonderful and varied career, growing up in the Munhall section of Pittsburgh.
After high school he joined the Coast Guard. Upon his return, he worked at Bethlehem Steel as a draftsman while attending night classes at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1962 he married the woman of his dreams, Patricia.
But he was fascinated with aviation and soon accrued enough flying hours to qualify as a pilot, working his way from flying corporate planes for HJ Heinz company to being a captain of large jets for Allegheny Airlines and then US Airways for 30 years retiring as Captain on the 767/757. In fact, his love for flying was so great that he moved his family from the North Hills of Pittsburgh to Volant where he purchased a 53 acre farm and he, along with his teenage children, built a 2300 ft. grass airport on the property and a hangar for his single engine planes.
But Don equaled his love of flying by collecting anything related to transportation. He purchased property in Harlansburg, purchased four full size train cars and created, with his wife, the Harlansburg Station Museum of Transportation in a replica train station. During the 37 years of operation, Don enjoyed meeting visitors from all over the country and around the world. He enjoyed asking them about their collections and occupations. When the museum closed, his collection was sold at an international auction in 2025. There were over three thousand items auctioned and numerous collectors who attended the auctions commented on the great diversity of items that he collected and they felt honored to purchase these items for their own collections. Parts of his collection went to Canada, Seoul, South Korea, and Australia as well as various locations throughout the United States.
If this were not enough for one man's lifetime, Don showed interest in other things as well. He loved animals, owning horses and tending to them daily. Well into his seventies, he purchased farm equipment and decided to grow hay. He was not intimidated with technology and was often seen at his computer examining all of the things that interested or puzzled him. He was forever tinkering with various pieces of machinery that he collected, and if he did not know how to fix something he was comfortable reading technical manuals and schematics.
While all these interests are admirable, most people who knew Don would say he was a man who enjoyed life to the fullest. He was a connoisseur of good food and restaurants. He always had a smile on his face and enjoyed a good joke or child-like silliness, traits that he passed on to his children.
The Barnes family was always full of laughter
