SHERIDAN -- Funeral services for John C. Barker Sr., 86, will be held at 10 a.m. today, Sept. 11, 2007, at Champion Ferries Funeral Home with Fr. Thomas Ogg officiating. Interment will be in Dayton Cemetery with military rites accorded by the American Legion and the Wyoming National Guard.

He died Sept. 5, 2007, at Memorial Hospital of Sheridan County.

He was born Sept. 14, 1920, on the ranch near Parkman to Edwin and Matilda (Klinkosh) Barker.

He attended Little Blue School on Barker Road and graduated from high school in Sheridan.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps and then served in the Army under Gen. Patton in Italy and Germany.

After the war, he returned to the family ranch.

He married Patricia Walker in 1954 and they later divorced.

He worked in construction for Peter Kiewit, helping build Interstate 90 and 25.

He married Annis Rideout in 1958.

he went to work for Big Horn Coal and worked there 25 years. He moved off the ranch and into Ranchester in 1987. He moved into Sheridan in 2003.

He was a life member of Eagles Lodge No. 186, a member of the Catholic Church and the VFW and was past state commander. He was an avid fisherman.

Survivors include his sons, John Jr., of Ranchester and Ed of Lake Oswego, Ore.; sister, Louise Wilson of Sheridan; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife in 1996 and his brother, Ed, in 2006.

Memorials may benefit the Sheridan Senior Citizens Center, 211 Smith St., Sheridan.

Arrangements are with Champion Ferries Funeral Home.

Casper Star-Tribune - September 11, 2007