Ronald Marcus Barker

in his sleep on April 14, 2024, at age 96.

Ronald was born in Middlesex, England, on May 12, 1927 and loved to spend his early childhood holidays and summers with extended family in Grundisburgh, Suffolk and Canvey Island, Essex. During World War II (1940), he was sponsored by The Hoover Company’s Children’s Evacuation Scheme and evacuated from war-torn London, England to Ohio, with 83 other children, to live with foster families in North Canton. He graduated from North Canton High School, and started college at Muskingum University before returning to England in 1945 for military service. He was drafted into the British Army Royal Tank Regiment; he was later stationed at a soldiers’ hospital in England and in Ireland.

Upon completing his army service, Ronald joined the British Merchant Navy in order to sail the world and pass through both the Panama and Suez Canals. After his ship had sailed from the Orient to dock in Seattle, he spent time in hospital due to an injury and was provided a train ticket to later meet his ship after she docked in Long Beach, CA. As the train traveled down the West Coast, it made an overnight stop in Santa Barbara. After exploring the area, he decided that Santa Barbara was wonderful and promised himself that one day he would return.

In 1951, while back in England, he met his future wife, Thelma, at a dance and fell in love. Deciding that they wanted to live permanently in the United States they corresponded for one-year as Ronald returned to the US and found work at the Patten-Blinn Lumber Company in Los Angeles. In 1952 Thelma sailed to the US and Ronald, not owning a car, hitchhiked cross-country to North Canton and then, with a car-owning friend, drove to meet her when the Queen Mary docked in New York. They briefly returned to Ohio and after answering a newspaper ad seeking someone to deliver a car to Los Angeles, drove back to California. After marrying and honeymooning in Santa Barbara, they settled in Pasadena. In 1955 with the smog continuing to worsen in the Los Angeles area, the couple moved to Santa Barbara for a better environment, to start a family, and to fulfill Ronald’s promise to return to Santa Barbara.

In Santa Barbara, Ronald worked for Santa Barbara Mill and Lumber for sixteen years before becoming a founding partner of County Lumber Company in 1971 with lumber yards in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Camarillo, and a hardware store / nursery on the Mesa. He enjoyed the challenges of his job and the people he worked with. He retired in 1990.

Ronald loved being on the water and spent much time sailing the Pacific Ocean and motoring across numerous lakes. He was an avid outdoorsman who spent many happy hours fishing and camping

throughout the Western States, especially in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. He built his home and liked to putter around with various improvements and projects. Ronald was also an accomplished artist, who excelled in pencil drawing, watercolor painting and oil painting, and has left his family many of his masterpieces.

Ronald loved his family and he was much loved in return. He was a kind man with a great and wicked sense of humor. He will be missed. Ronald is survived by his wife Thelma, his daughter Barbara and son-in-law Alan “Scott” Turnbull of Santa Barbara, his son Keith and daughter-in-law Lynne (Sparks) of Santa Barbara, his grand-daughter Dr. Margot Barker of Los Angeles, grand daughter Grace Barker, R.N., of Chicago, and grandson Kevin Barker, of Boston.

The family would like to thank the staff of Casa San Miguel and Central Coast Home Health and Hospice for the excellent care they provided during the final years of Ronald’s life. A private memorial will be held with family members. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ronald’s memory to the Mono Lake Committee (see "DONATIONS" link below).