David Stanley Barks

David ̶ Dave to his family and friends ̶ was born in the family home on the east side of Detroit on November 12, 1938, to William Barks and Georgiana Isabelle (Crawford) Barks. The family moved to Santa Monica when he was 5 and his father accepted a job at Douglas Aircraft Co., where David started working after graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1956. He briefly attended Santa Monica Community College and took additional professional courses in management and leadership as he moved up in his career.

David worked for 16 years at Douglas and then McDonnell Douglas, moving from the assembly line to office equipment repair, tooling and computer operations. In 1966 he joined the pricing department, where he became a manager. He moved to Northrop Corp. in 1972, overseeing activities in support of the FMS “Peace Hawk” F-5 support program in Saudi Arabia ̶ where he lived while working on the program ̶ as well as other multimillion-dollar projects. He was team captain of Northrop’s F/A-18 buy with McDonnell Douglas and dealt with contracts for the B-2 stealth bomber. He was contracts and pricing manager for military programs and International Launch Services when he took early retirement in December 1994 from Northrop Grumman Corp. He returned as a contract employee, spending three years as a real estate specialist helping the company sell unwanted property.

A lifelong lover of the ocean, David spent his entire life after age 5 with the Pacific in his backyard. He moved from Santa Monica to Manhattan Beach in the 1970s and was still swimming in the sea from spring through fall until just a few years ago. He also participated in the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair 10K for many years and biked to the gym and appointments into his 70s. In 2001, he became a peer counselor with Beach City Health District, deeply enjoying his work visiting homebound older adults. He could fix almost anything and was known for his dry wit and drive for excellence in everything he did, whether it was negotiating a contract or tiling a bathroom. He became the go-to guy for the entire extended Barks family, caring for his mother in his home for many years and hosting decades of Thanksgiving and holiday meals, getting up extra early to debone a large turkey before stuffing it and cooking it on the grill. He frequently brought the extended Barks family together and eagerly lent a helping hand not only to his children and grandchildren but to his numerous nieces and nephews. A common phrase was, “Is there anything I can do?”

David married June Elizabeth Robertson (now Vannoster) in 1956; the couple had three children. They divorced in 1976. He married Veretta Dorf Layne in 1985, and the couple enjoyed annual vacations with friends to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, as well as trips to Europe, Great Britain, Turkey, Alaska and the Midwest. Veretta also worked in contracts and pricing at Douglas, McDonnell Douglas and then Boeing. The couple loved finding a good bargain and frequently went to garage sales, where Dave was happiest if he could negotiate a $1 item down to 25 cents. He was adept at finding items others considered worthless and using them to make improvements to his home. He was always generous with his tools and know-how.

David was predeceased by his stepsons, Greg and Michael Layne; sister Isabelle Barks; brothers William and Gilbert Barks; and sisters-in-law Tuula Sprague and Thea Barks.

He is survived by his wife, Veretta; son, David S. Barks Jr. (Dace Barks); daughters, Katherine Hoffman (Brent Hoffman) and Leslie Muse; grandchildren Clark and Alexander Hoffman, Toshimi Johnson (Connor Johnson), Oto Svenke, Henry, Lauren and Hudson Muse, Eikasia “Kasey” Layne and Eduards Barks; and great-grandsons Avery and Elias Hoffman and Owen Johnson.

David’s ashes were spread in his beloved ocean by the Neptune Society. You can leave a comment at https://neptunesociety.com/obituaries.