Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2009 12:00 am
SHERIDAN - Funeral services for Thomas L. Barker, 62, will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 20, at First Congregational Church in Sheridan with Pastor Bob Miller officiating. A reception will take place in the atrium at the Holiday Inn immediately following the service.
Visitation will be from 3-6 p.m. today, July 19, at Champion Ferries Funeral Home.
A private family interment will be held at a later date.
He died July 14, 2005, at his residence in Sheridan.
Born July 12, 1943, in New York, N.Y., to Arthur Jarret and Margaret Montgomery (Brown) Barker, he grew up and attended schools in Buffalo, graduating from Johnson County High School. Afterwards, he spent summers on the Padlock Ranch and was a wrangler on the branding roundup with Curley Wetzel. He then attended the University of Wyoming, where he received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 1964.
He served in the Peace Corps from 1965-68 in Loha, Ecuador, then returned to UW and earned a master of economics degree in 1970, while serving in the Wyoming National Guard from 1969 to 1975.
On March 20, 1971, he married Cheryl Allyn Elliott in Saratoga.
He worked with the Wyoming State Engineers Office in Cheyenne from 1970-73 and with VTN Engineering from 1973-76. In 1976 he and Jerome Mark founded Centennial Engineering in Sheridan, which later became CER Professional Consultants with Barker as sole owner.
He was a member of the Lion's Club and First Congregational Church of Sheridan, and a former chairman of the Sheridan County Republican Party.
He enjoyed inventing new concepts and equipment for standard procedures and land development. He developed alternative product uses for a dust suppressant now called Dust Lock; automated the fifth-wheel hookup; and developed the Firewood Factory in Sheridan for processing firewood, among other concepts and designs. He especially enjoyed spending time with his family.
Survivors include his wife of Sheridan; two sons, Tab Barker of Austin, Texas, and Gary Barker and his wife of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; one daughter, Annie Barker of Bangor, Maine; his mother, Margie Barker of Buffalo; one sister, Helen Mathes and her husband of Buffalo; two grandchildren; and three nieces.
He was preceded in death by his father.
Memorials may be made to First Congregational Church, 100 W. Works St., Sheridan, WY 82801.