James "Barney" Barnett Hodges, Jr.

James Barnett Hodges, Jr, was known to everyone as Barney, to his siblings as “Reds”, and to his farm crew as “the Colonel”. He passed away on January 28, 2026, peacefully at his home with his loving wife Dee and son Barney III, by his side. He loved farming and growing apples, singing, and being with family.  He had a sly wit, and a special knack for opening his heart to everyone as he loved meeting people from all walks of life.  

 

Born on June 1, 1935, in Lynchburg, Virginia, Barney was one of 5 children born to Frances (Long) Hodges and James Barnett Hodges of Forest, Virgina. Siblings include the late Bill and Tom Hodges, and his two living siblings are Harriette Andrews of Davis, California, and Perry Hodges of Bloomington, Indiana. Barney grew up on a farm, known as Elk Hill, in Forest, Virginia, where his father raised sheep, cattle, peaches, and apples.

As a boy, Barney listened to singers like John Charles Thomas, Jussi Bjorling, Al Jolson, and Ezio Pinza on his father’s records. When he was very young, his parents could find “Reds” under the piano listening closely to friends and family singing with love and laughter.

 

Barney graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and Cornell University, where he was a member of the a cappella singing group, Cayuga’s Waiters. After graduating from the College of Agriculture at Cornell in 1957, Barney worked for his father on the farm in Virginia, while at the same time getting his feet wet in community theater in Lynchburg. 

 

In 1961 he moved to New York City to study voice and acting and enrolled in the American Musical Theater Academy. Here he studied under the direction of well-known acting teacher Sanford Meisner in 1962.

During his time at acting school, Barney met his future wife, Dee Manning. She fell in love with this unique and hay-seedy mix of a man, artist and farmer, and they were married in 1963.

 

Barney went on to pursue the theater in New York. One of his prominent roles was the part of “Jim Crow” in a musical play entitled Jericho Jim Crow (1964), written by Langston Hughes, and co-directed by Alvin Ailey and William Hairston. While working with Ailey and Hairston, Barney enjoyed being part of the incredible cast of gospel singers, dancers, and actors. He found friendship with cast members and became part of a prominent theatrical work that celebrates the endurance of the human spirit during the civil rights movement.  

 

In 1970, Barney moved with Dee and their three children to Middlebury, Vermont, to start a farm, raise a family, and continue acting through community theater. He managed Allan Jackson’s Orchards in Shoreham, and Cornwall Orchards owned by Bob Norinsberg, and joined the Middlebury Community Players, a lively group of talented local playwrights, musicians, and singers. Barney also became an active participant of the St Stephen’s Church Choir, and the Middlebury College Community Chorus.

 

In 1974, Barney and Dee bought a dairy farm in Cornwall, Vermont, with partners Dave and Eunie Van Vleck. The land, with its east facing slopes and loamy soils, was perfect for Barney’s vision of a large scale, highly efficient, wholesale apple orchard, and with that the four of them started Sunrise Orchards.  The next year, the foursome began converting the dairy farm to apple orchard.  Barney was able to put into practice what he gleaned from his education at Cornell and experience as a horticulturalist/manager.  Within the next decade, Sunrise Orchards became one of the more successful high-density plantings of semi-dwarf trees, that later, when mature, was one of the highest yielding, most efficient wholesale orchards in the northeast.   

 

In 2008, Barney transferred ownership to his son, Barney, and his wife Christiana. Sunrise Orchards has become a mainstay of apple production in Vermont and the wider Northeast region.

 

Barney’s love for music stayed with him always. He also loved tennis, and watching his children and grandchildren in cross-country ski meets.

 

We will remember Barney and his beautiful singing voice as one of a kind: an unforgettable sound that echoes across the Green Mountains and beyond. 

 

Barney is survived by his wife Dee; daughter Georgia and her husband Doug Jacuzzi, and their children, Lola and Cielo; daughter Kate and her husband Ted Springer; son Barney and his wife Christiana and their children, Sophie, Sam and Malia.

 

A Celebration of Barney’s life will be held at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Middlebury, Vermont, on Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 10:00 am.  Apple blossom time- Barney’s favorite time of year. A reception for continued remembrance will follow at the farm, Sunrise Orchards, in Cornwall.   

 

The family would like to thank Eastview At Middlebury, St Stephen’s Church, Addison County Home Health and Hospice, and Project Independence, for all their love and support. 

 

In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Middlebury Community Players middleburycommunityplayers.organd to For The Love Of Dogs Vermont fortheloveofdogsvermont.com