Pyra Lea Barnes

Pyra Lea Barnes, born on June 25, 1973, in Beaufort, South Carolina at Naval Hospital Beaufort, has left this mortal coil on June 15, 2025, in the comfort of her own home in Dayton, Kentucky. She was an intelligent, kind, and caring soul, and those who knew and loved her were privileged to be in her warm and loving presence.

Pyra found good company in the depths of the local goth club scene, where the environment of booming and haunting music melded with flickering lights provided her with camaraderie. If her life had a soundtrack, bands such as The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, VNV Nation, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, and Skinny Puppy would be major features on it. It wasn't just the clubs that she shined in, but also various concert venues across the country, where she got to personally experience the soundtrack to her life and support the artists that meant the most to her.

An ardent reader of fantasy and other forms of fiction, Pyra's passion for writing was an extension of her very being. Inspired by the world and everything around her, she utilized her vast imagination to develop her own worlds, characters, and stories for other people to read and explore. Unfortunately, most people did not get to realize just how vast her imagination truly was, with many of her stories left unfinished and unread. They currently sit waiting to be rediscovered and properly preserved.

As her life went on, things shifted and new interests were discovered. One such new interest was even the basis of a strong bond between her and her son, Trent. Whenever they could, they would share stories and videos about the popular video game, Minecraft. One of Pyra's final hobbies was creating playthrough videos of Minecraft for her YouTube channel (@stillinhere), where she explored and crafted these intricate virtual worlds and shared her passion for online strangers to witness. Minecraft provided a space for her to be creative in a way that could not easily be done in writing.

Pyra's son, Devon, too, held a strong bond with her. The three of them shared many common views of the world, and felt a strong sense of justice and care for those that mattered most to them. They navigated through life's challenges together, knowing that they all had each other's backs, and that they were not alone to deal with the hardships in life. She had many friends over the course of her life who held this exact same bond, and even when they lost touch, those same friends still felt a lot of love for her and were always willing to reconnect. Tragically, Pyra never found out just how loved and missed she truly was.

Like how the brightest stars often fade the fastest, Pyra’s journey came to a close very suddenly. She leaves behind the whispers of her parents, Keith and Melanie Barnes (nee Bauerle), who are also departed from this world, alongside her 2 sons, Devon and Trent Artmeier, and her former spouse, Brandon Artmeier. Pyra has now returned back to her mother, over 3 decades since she tragically and suddenly lost her in 1992. Her life was full of hardships, but that never stopped her from being who she was: a very bright and loving person. Pyra will be remembered for her kindness, her humor, the family bonds she cultivated, the many adventures that she shared, and how hard she fought to successfully keep pushing forward to be the best person she could be.