Joneshill: former teacher, natural healer
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Barry Joneshill stands with his many grandchildren.
Former Haines and Mosquito Lake School elementary teacher Barry Joneshill, 71, died Feb. 14 at his home in Heber Springs, Ark. of heart failure, according to his wife, Nancy Joneshill.
Joneshill said her husband especially enjoyed his tenure at the Mosquito Lake School where he was popular with students and staff. He taught grades 2,3, and 4. He liked the environment so much that drove his children, Dane and Chelsea, 26 miles from their home in town each day so he could teach them in the personalized rural setting.
Ron Weishahn was the teacher–principal at the school and Joneshill's friend. He said his colleague was creative and always learning new things. Weishahn praised the shows Joneshill helped the children produce. "Barry brought a highly efficient way of teaching to the school, and of course I loved his southern accent. In the five or so years we taught together, I think I developed a stronger accent than him," he said.
Joneshill was also part of a small Church of Christ congregation that built a church that is now the Haines Headstart preschool.
Most recently, he owned Remedies, a health food store and health consulting business in Rose Bud, Arkansas. "Barry believed that God put plants and minerals on this earth for mankind's benefit," Nancy said, and noted that he purchased his first homeopathic kit in Haines, and that his affection for natural remedies grew from there. He was a vegetarian and exercised regularly.
Mark Barry Joneshill was born Dec. 27, 1946 in Lewisburg, Tennessee. He grew up in the Tennessee Children's Home in Spring Hill. Those years "were tough, even tragic," Nancy said, yet he "emerged from those difficult circumstances with a joy and optimism that followed him throughout his days." He graduated from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. in 1968 with a degree in art and later earned a master's degree in education from the University of Alaska. In the early 1970s he served with the Peace Corps in the Gambia, West Africa.
Joneshill taught in Skagway from 1973-80, in Haines from 1980-90, and Ketchikan from 1990-93. After retiring in 1993, he bought Country Natural Health Food Store in Paragould, Arkansas and began a new career as a natural healer. In 2001 he relocated to Rose Bud, Arkansas where he opened Remedies.
A memorial service was held at the Heber Springs Community Center, attended by clients, family, and friends, with many of his paintings on display.
Barry Joneshill is survived by son Dane, a worship pastor and musician who lives with his wife and five children in Searcy; daughter Chelsea Etheridge, a stay-at-home mother of five and her husband, who also live nearby, and his wife of 30 years, Nancy.
Cards may be sent to the Joneshills at 304 Sidon Rd., Rose Bud, AR 72137
