Factiva

BY JIM WASHINGTON

THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

NORFOLK - Stephen Barna saw beauty everywhere.

He captured it in photographs of European cathedrals and rainy streets in his neighborhood. He heard it in Haydn symphonies. He recognized it in the way air flows over the swept-back wings of an airplane.

Barna loved his wind tunnel research at NASA and his academic life just as much as taking photos, going to the theat er and playing the violin, something he did every day.

Barna died April 4 at 94.

"He was a fascinating person," said his daughter Stephanie Burr. "His life would make a great movie."

Barna came to the United States with his wife and young daughters from Australia, where he fled to escape Nazis in his native Hungary. The rest of his family died in concentration camps.

As a member of the Australian army, Barna invented a bullet- resistant tank radiator, an idea that occurred to him while watching water gush down a storm drain. The invention catapulted him in rank and eventually led to a professorship at the University of New South Wales.

In 1969, Old Dominion University invited him to teach mechanical engineering.

His daughters say that although they didn't see him much during the school year, in the summers he loved going for walks, taking them on picnics and visiting museums.

And, always, always, he played the violin.

"He practiced every day of my life," Burr said. "When I was 3 or 4 I was singing melodies to the great symphonies."

Barna was a passionate arts supporter, from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra to the Little Theatre of Norfolk.

He had his own quartet and whiled away many hours at his home in Norfolk's Larchmont neighborhood playing music while his wife, Margaret, served food and the girls listened.

He always maintained ties to his homeland, reading Hungarian poetry and listening to gypsy music.

As a young man, Barna taught himself photography and print- making, and he spent his vacations traveling the world snapping photos.

Weeks ago, as he lay in a hospital bed at his house, Barna told his daughter he was taking one last trip.

"He told me his bags were packed and he was going on a long voyage," she said.

"He was ready."

* Reach Jim Washington at (757) 446-2536 or jim.washington @pilotonline.com.

P. Stephen Barna n 1912-2006 Stephen Barna was a man of many passions, including his work researching wind tunnels, swimming and playing the violin. He was a dedicated supporter of the arts as well as a NASA researcher and inventor. He traveled the world taking photos and always remained close to his wife and daughters.

Document NFLK000020060425e24o0008g