Cecil Barton Cantrell Jr.

Cecil Barton Cantrell Junior (affectionately known as Barry), aged 77, of Baker, Florida passed away peacefully Friday, September 11, 2020, in his mountain home in Marietta, South Carolina.
Barry was born February 3, 1943, in Traveler's Rest, South Carolina to Cecil Barton and Dorothy Undine Williams Cantrell. He has deep roots in the Greenville, South Carolina area and while he spent most of his life traveling with the military and living in Florida, he always maintained his South Carolina property and dreamed of retiring to it.
Barry had a deep love and talent for engineering. He studied mechanical engineering at Clemson College and was Co-op Engineer at John D. Hollingsworth, J.E. Sirrine, and Machine Parts Corporation. He designed and led the construction of a semi-automated iron foundry for Machine Parts when he was only 23 years old.
In 1966 he earned the Degree of Master Mason at Hiram Lodge No. 68 in Anderson, South Carolina and he joined the USAF that same year. He was a member of Tau Beta Phi and Phi Eta Sigma while attending Georgia Tech, where he earned Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 1969.
Barry was commissioned in 1970. He earned Navigator wings in 1971 and flew over 5,000 hours in C-130's. He was combat qualified in every mode of C-130 employment. He went on to earn Master Navigator wings and was a Command Navigator in numerous high level missions in the Pacific and Southeast Asia Theaters.
In 1975, Barry married the love of his life, Ruth Ann Schwartz at Gap Creek Baptist Church in Marietta. She preceded him in death on November 15, 2009.
From 1983-1986 he was Munitions Test Engineer at the Air Armament Division, and during that time he also earned a Master of Science degree from Troy State. He was also the Fire Control Officer on AC-130 Gunships in this period, until his retirement from the Air Force in 1987.
After serving 21 years in the USAF, Barry went on to serve 32 years as a civilian Design, Test and Systems Engineer at Eglin Air Force Base's Air Armament Center. He was extremely proud to provide Air Force Warfighters with new and innovative weapon systems. He won more than 35 awards for technical excellence, including the AF Systems Command, United States Air Force, and Department of Defense awards for Engineering Excellence.
Barry was more than a Husband, Father, Patriot, Warfighter, Engineer and Scientist - he was also the proudest Scout Leader, Teacher, Landscaper, Tinkerer, Grandfather (Papa) and Would-Be Farmer. He is survived and will be deeply missed by his children, grandchildren, brother, nephew and many others.
A memorial service is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Friday, September 18 at Gap Creek Baptist Church in Marietta.