Ralph Merton Barker, Jr.

YORK- Ralph Merton Barker, Jr, 75, passed away Sunday, May 1, 2011 at York Hospital. He was the loving husband of Diana Dawn (Kline) Barker to whom he was married for 47 years. A celebration of life service will be 11 a.m. Friday, May 6, 2011 at Heffner Funeral Chapel & Crematory, Inc, 1551 Kenneth Road, York, with Certified Celebrant Betty Frey officiating. A viewing will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. Burial will be held at 4 p.m. in Alsace Cemetery, Reading. Born on December 2, 1935 in Glenolden, PA a son of the late Ralph Merton, Sr. and Pauline Kaufman (Isenberg) Barker, he was a 1953 graduate of Glen-Nor High School, Delaware County. He continued his education at Kutztown State College where he was elected as Class President of the entire student body and graduated in 1963 with a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education. He then went on to further his education at Temple University earning a Masters Degree in Elementary Education. From 1963-1969 he taught 4th, 5th , and 6th grade for Muhlenberg School District. In 1970 he was asked to lead a model pilot program for gifted students called Berks Elementary Enrichment Program, Intermediate Unit 14, also known as BEEP. During the summers of 1990-1992 he was a teacher for the Governors School of Excellence for Teaching at Millersville University, and was a member of their inaugural staff. Mr. Barker later retired from BEEP in 1993, where he left a legacy of students that he was privileged to aid in facilitating their creativity and education. He was also honored as being named in Whos Who in Education for all his contributions throughout his teaching career. During his working years he was a member of the Log Cabin Society, and Old Dry Road Farm, Inc. both of Berks County, where he was part of a team that restored second century old log buildings and farming culture by moving them log by log to a new historical site that would preserve them and allow students to utilize them for learning. Mr. Barker was also a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, involved with Boy Scouts of America, and charitable work as a cook. He was such a good chef that he was persuaded by his wife to enter a national baking contest by Rath Packing Company, in which he took first place. In his free time he loved hunting, writing poetry, wood carving, reading History books, and traveling the world with his wife, Diana. He was also known to be an exceptional cartoonist who took great pride in his work, and using this skill in his teaching and for editorial purposes. During the summers he would take his family to their bay front house in Avalon, NJ and spend the time boating, crabbing, fishing, clamming, and swimming. Mr. Barker will be remembered for having a great sense of humor and his strong love for everyone he met. In addition to his wife, Diana, he is survived by a son, Timothy Jon Barker and daughter-in-law Melissa Lee of York; brother, Dr. James Henry Barker and wife, Elizabeth A. of Tampa, FL; a sister Doretta L. Erb and husband, Dr. Robert A. of Valley Forge, PA; nieces and nephews; and granddogs, Zoe and Mollie. He was preceded in death by his mother-in-law, Dorothy Kathryn Kline, with whom he also lived in Reading for 32 years. Memorial contributions may be made to the Salvation Army, 50 E. King Street, York, PA 17401; York Rescue Mission, 367 W. Market Street, York, PA 17404; and VNA Community Services, 540 South George Street, York, PA 17401.