Lyndel Dale Barber

Lyndel Barber was born in Okemah in February 1938 to a soft spoken man and resilient woman who raised a sturdy family. As an infant he rode on his mother's lap from Oklahoma to California, where he grew up eating fried chicken and picking fruit in the orchards. An avid athlete in his youth, he graduated from a small school in Live Oak before studying pastoral theology at Bethany Bible College. After graduating, he worked as a chaplain's assistant in the Army. While on leave one weekend he met a spitfire woman playing organ at a church social. He and Judith Ann married in May of 1965 and spent the next 56 years building a life together, eventually settling in Modesto. Their family was made whole in July 1976 by a little girl named Katrina who gave Lyn his favorite story to tell when, on the way out of the final adoption appointment, she looked up at him and said, "Well, I guess you're stuck with me."

Lyn worked boring jobs he mostly enjoyed. As he crisscrossed the country for work, he never once got into an accident, which made him a terrible backseat driver. He enjoyed golfing and chatting at the donut shop but was most devoted to church, even taking on a community outreach position after retirement. He was very proud to achieve a lifetime dream of becoming an ordained pastor in his 80s. Lyn was nothing if not a people person, and he spent his last few years walking around his new Oregon neighborhood making friends—and judging lawns. He loved his wife until and after her death four years before his; he loved his siblings as much at 80 as he did at 8; he loved his daughter and grandchildren, his friends and extended family. And he really loved ice cream.

He died in the early hours of May 12th at home with his family and will be missed by many.