Everything you ever wanted to know about Richard and Abby...

Abby S. M. Barron and Richard R. Barron met when they both worked at the Ada Evening News, the daily newspaper in Ada, Oklahoma. After nearly a year of excellent flirtation, they went out on a date, which Abby described the next day as, "a lot better than I even wanted it to be." Within weeks, their relationship bloomed, and they found being together to be easier, more fun, and more natural than either of them had ever experienced.

Abby was married to Paul Milligan for 23 years until his death from cancer in 1992. Paul and Abby's only daughter, Dawna Michele Milligan-Reeves, lives in Baltimore with her husband Tom Reeves. Abby and Richard are the legal guardians of A. Mitchell Garis, the biological son of Gwyn Garis, Abby's sister, who died in October 2000. Richard was not married before.

Abby and Richard took their first vacation together, The High Road, in July 2003. By January 2004, on the first anniversary of their first date, they decided to get married, and Abby picked her parents' anniversary of October 12 for the blessed event. Since Abby picked the date, Richard picked the place, the majestic Delicate Arch in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. The simple vows ceremony took place under perfect desert skies that fall.

Richard and Abby get married

This image, made in the summer of 2004 in the front yard of their house with their tree-lined pasture in the background, became Richard and Abby's official engagement photo. It is considered among their favorite photos of all time, and possibly the best picture ever made of either of them.

In addition to his career as an award-winning news photographer, Richard is a licensed private pilot, a licensed amateur radio operator, a long-time devoted vegetarian and gardener, an avid outdoorsman and hiker, a photography teacher, and webmaster of this web site.

When time and circumstance allow, Abby and Richard usually vacation in the same spectacular landscape where they got married, the adventure playground of the Colorado Plateau.

Abby is a former restaurateur who holds a concealed weapons permit, holds several drag racing records, and has owned or cared for 2 cows, 4 goats, a monkey, 4 Chihuahuas, 2 Irish wolfhounds, 2 Dobermans, a German wire-haired pointer, a poodle, 2 miniature horses, 6 teddy-bear hamsters, 10 parakeets, a cockateel, a bullfrog, a rabbit, 12 horned toads, a hedgehog, 12 chickens, 6 gerbils, a German shepherd, a pit bulldog, 20 or so cats, a border collie, 5 Jack Russell terriers, an assortment of mutts, and a Saint Bernard/Great Dane cross named "Bite 'Em." As her profession, Abby is currently a membership administrator at Pre-Paid Legal Services in Ada. She is also a freelance photographer, shooting photo assignments for Ada Magazine, the Ada Evening News, and the web site for Echo Canyon Resort and Spa.

Richard and Abby with Sierra the Chihuahua, Spring 2007

http://richardbarron.net is the official web site of professional photographer Richard R. Barron, Abby S. M. Barron, their son A. Mitchell Garis, and their friends and families. Web space is purchased from http://www.ipower.com/. Most pages are constructed using Adobe DreamWeaver, Adobe GoLive, and Netscape Composer, though some older pages were assembled using Adobe PageMill. Photos on this site are JPEGs, web-optimized in Adobe Photoshop CS3. Movies on these pages are QuickTime files. This site is viewable at most common screen resolutions, but is optimized for monitors set to at least 1280 pixels wide. Because of the large number of images and movies, a broadband connection is highly recommended. Since there are so many diverse operating systems and web browsers, only you can determine the best for your needs when viewing this site. We use Apple Macintosh computers, and our primary web browsers are Firefox and Camino. If you are interested in purchasing fine arts prints of images you see in Richard or Abby's galleries, contact us here. For best viewing results, calibrate your monitor so you can see 17 shades from black to white in the bar below:

	All content Copyright 2010 by Richard R. Barron and Abby S. M. Barron