Richard Henry Barber

Born in South Gate, CA, September 26, 1942, the only son to Peter Barber and Mary Rosenboom, Richard was one of three children. He is survived by his devoted wife, Rosalie, his blended family of six sons (Jim, Ron, John, Ray, Nick, and Tony), his two sisters (Diane and Kathy), five grandchildren (Heather, Keyoni, Jamie, Isabella, and Dominick), and two great grandchildren (Kai, and one on the way!).

From early in life, Richard’s heart belonged to the military. He was proud to serve his nation and spent more than 50 years doing so. This devotion and pride of country began from the moment he could walk, and he joined the Army at the first opportunity. During his active duty service he deployed to Vietnam with the 523 Transportation Company from 1966-1967 where he was tasked with transporting munitions to our front line soldiers.

Once he finished his tour in Vietnam, Richard worked at Alpha Beta as a store manager, but his heart never left the Army. Being a military man through and through, he joined the National Guard and quickly began to rise through the ranks. With a Civil Service job, he became an aircraft technician, then quality control inspector, then maintenance Supervisor at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center. Upon his retirement decades later, he left the Guard as a Sergeant First Class and a Platoon Sergeant with the 140th Aviation Regiment.

He loved all things mechanical and anything relating to military aircraft maintenance; his hands touched them all: The T-42, UF, C-12 series, UH- IH, AH-IG, S,P,F, OH-58, OH-6, OH-23, CH-34, Cessna 152, 172, 182, 206, 210, 303, 310, 414, 421 Beech, 50/60, 99, Beech 35 Bonanza, Beech 55 Baron, Duke, Piper 31 Cheyenne, Piper Seneca, Bell 204, 205, Bell 206, Sikorsky H-3, UH-60, EH 60. None of these was out of the realm of what Richard could maintain, and he cherished every moment of keeping these aircraft in good working order.

But even at 60 years old, his dedication to his country never waned. Thinking he was retiring from his military career, he was instead called by Boeing, Iaccess, and PDS Technical Service to continue his career as a consultant on the advanced design team for the C130 project.

His happiest moments in his career were spent with his military buddies, especially attending the Line Haul Reunions every year and, looking forward to helping plan the annual Legacy dinner at the Los Alamitos Armed Forcers Reserve Center. To him, there was nothing like drinking a beer with his Band of Brothers, reliving the days they shared in service.

Throughout his career and for 38 years, his beloved Rosalie, who he married in 1983, was by his side. They shared a love of the Havasu River and spent every moment they could enjoying one of Richard’s toys: his boats, his ATVs, his jet skis. Even in 120 degrees, Richard loved to be on the water, beer in one hand, fishing pole in the other, and next to his Rosalie. (She even learned to swim later in life so they could always be together!)

Our country and our family will never forget all that he has done and the many ways he served. We will forever be grateful.

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