SUFFOLK - Martie Fletcher Barnette Jr., 74, of the 2600 block of N. Nansemond Drive, died Aug. 25, 2006, in his home. A native of Newport News, he was happily married to Betty A. Barnette for 30 years. Mr. Barnette was a member of Ebenezer United Methodist Church, Warwick Masonic Lodge 366, Sottish Rites Bodies, the Shrine Club and the Oriental Band and was an Army veteran of the Korean War. He met Chang Kai Shek and Madam Chang Kai Shek on numerous occasions and helped train Chang Kai Shek’s Nationalist Troops. He sat on the review board for two years with Admiral Rickover when the USS Thrasher sub went down.

Survivors include his wife; mother, Vivian Forrest Barnette of Portsmouth; two daughters, Tammy Munford of Smithfield and Cindy Weger of Washington, D.C.; one son, Tommy Barnette of Smithfield; one brother, Edmund Barnette of Portsmouth; four stepchildren, Katherine Biernot, Theresa Biernot and Ronald Biernot, all of Chesapeake and Donald Biernot of Virginia Beach. Martie had a very special relationship with his granddaughter, Dee Dee Lewis and her husband John; and great-granddaughters, “Nuggie” and “Daily Poo.”

A graveside service with military honors will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in Albert G. Horton Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery, Suffolk, by the Rev. Carl LeMon. The family will receive friends at Sturtevant Funeral Home, Bennetts Creek Chapel, from 5 to 6 p.m. today. Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.