Boyd Barker

July 2, 1924 – October 15, 2021

Daniel Boyd Barker was a Renaissance man, enjoying the challenges both in a technical career and in

nurturing his artistic talents. He was a kind, thoughtful, generous man who was open-minded and treated

everyone with respect.

Boyd was born in Gordon, Nebraska, and raised with his brother, Raleigh Jr., and his sister, Mary Lou, on a farm in Denby, South Dakota. Their grandparents and parents ran a rural general store on the Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux Reservation.

Education was an important part of the Barker family life. The three children learned to read before starting at the local two-room Denby School. Their days were full of schoolwork, chores at the farm, and lots of play. The radio was their link to the outside world; when they were younger, they listened to children’s programs such as “Lil Orphan Annie” and “The Lone Ranger”. Raleigh Jr. developed a passion for sports, reading everything he could get his hands on, keeping box scores during baseball broadcasts, and graphing football plays. Boyd was interested in aviation; he read magazines and made model planes and gliders. Mary Lou spent every spare moment reading about a wide variety of subjects.

In the 1930’s drought years many farmers left the area, but with the kids pitching in and the renowned Barker frugality, the family kept the store going. The three children all had fond memories of their childhood; they didn’t realize that life was hard and money was scarce.

As they grew older, Raleigh Jr. began to help with the finances at the store, Boyd was a tinkerer and got

involved in mechanical and electrical maintenance at the store and farm, and Mary Lou helped their mother with everything that was required to run a rural household.

In 1941 Raleigh Jr. graduated from Denby High School; he then received a diploma from Chillicothe Business College before being inducted into the Army and working in the Finance Office. Boyd graduated from Denby High School in 1942 and enrolled in the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City in the wartime accelerated Chemical Engineering program. After the first session of Organic Chemistry, he decided to switch to Physics. Although when he started the program, engineering students were deferred from the draft, by 1944 as the war was winding down the deferments were cancelled. Boyd joined the Navy in an Aviation Electronics program and finished the war at the Kwajalein Atoll in a Naval Air Transport electronics center. Mary Lou spent her senior year at Gordon High School and graduated as valedictorian; she entered Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln.

After the war Raleigh Jr. and Boyd took advantage of the GI Bill; Raleigh studied at the University of Nebraska and Boyd at Nebraska Wesleyan. They roomed together in Lincoln and enjoyed being in the same city as Mary Lou. Boyd graduated with a BS in Physics and a BA in Math, then went to Iowa State for an MS in Physics. Mary Lou went on to the University of Michigan for her MA in Library Science. Raleigh Jr. received a BS in Business Administration and took a year of graduate courses. Significant success for three kids from a rural two-room school! They all continued promoting the value of education throughout their lives.

Raleigh Jr. moved to Kansas City; he was an auditor in an accounting firm. He started participating in a church youth group and started dating one of the young women in the group, Jacqueline Lewis. Boyd visited his brother and attended some of the youth group activities – and fell head-over-heels for Jacqueline’s sister, Patricia. They soon decided to get married.

In 1952, once his graduate research was complete Boyd got a job as a research physicist at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studied how wind and waves affected radar detection of aircraft flying over the ocean. That December he went back to Iowa to defend his thesis, then on to Kansas City where he and Pat were married. They moved to Massachusetts to start their new life!

Boyd and Pat enjoyed their time in Massachusetts, experiencing the beach and the camaraderie of their

church community. Their daughter, Karen, was born in 1957. In 1961 they decided to move back west to be closer to family. Boyd got a job at the Denver Research Institute at the University of Denver (DU), doing research on photoconductive and electro-luminescent materials.

They joined the wonderful community of Salem United Church of Christ (UCC), starting life-long friendships. The highlight of their social life for many years was the Supper Club, a group of six couples from Salem who took turns hosting monthly potluck dinners with fun activities.

Boyd and Pat welcomed a son, Daniel, in 1962. Ever practical, they had purchased a home behind the local elementary school so Dan and Karen would not need to cross any streets in their daily walk to and from school. There were many families with children in the neighborhood, so the kids stayed busy and made lifelong friendships.

After a few years Boyd and Pat moved to First Plymouth Congregational UCC, where they were active

members the rest of their lives. Boyd sang in the choir, helped edit a literary magazine, and participated in a theater group. When the church sanctuary was being remodeled, he helped rewire the organ – ever the

gadgeteer. The church’s philanthropic programs to promote equality and better peoples’ lives around the world were most important to them. Boyd’s most challenging contribution to the church family was as chair of the Open and Affirming Task Force, which explored the options for the LGBTQ community in the church. The issue was very divisive at the time but his core value of respect for others helped him to lead the task force in educating the congregation; they ultimately made the decision to welcome diversity and inclusion.

Boyd moved into DU’s atmospheric research group, studying the interaction of the sun’s radiation with the earth’s upper atmosphere. This job took him all over the world, from Alamagordo, New Mexico, to Fairbanks, Alaska; Hyderabad, India; and McMurdo Base in Antarctica. Dan had the opportunity to work as Boyd’s technician for some of the trips, including Antarctica.

Boyd and Pat enjoyed travelling in their retirement, enjoying train trips around the country, cruises in the

Caribbean, Alaska, and New England, and stays with organizations that offered educational experiences in conjunction with sightseeing. They delighted in travelling to California to see their grandchildren.

In 2004 Boyd and Pat decided to downsize and move to a condo in Windsor Gardens, a retirement community nearby, to have a lifestyle without home and yard maintenance. They were happy and active in that community.

In 2008 Boyd started to experience some memory loss which was eventually diagnosed as Alzheimer’s;

fortunately his cognitive abilities declined slowly so he lived a full life for many years. When Pat passed away in 2018 he moved to the memory care unit of Clermont Park in Denver; in 2019 he moved to Villa Capri in Santa Rosa, California, where he lived comfortably through the pandemic until his death at 97 from complications of Alzheimer’s. We are grateful for the loving, patient care provided by the caregivers at both facilities. The staff delighted in Boyd’s love of music, his sense of humor, and his polite respect.

A service to celebrate Boyd’s life, followed by a reception, will be held on Saturday, November 13, at 11:00 am at First Plymouth Congregational Church UCC, 3501 S. Colorado Blvd., Englewood, CO 80113. Face coverings will be required. The service will also be livestreamed at https://youtu.be/8yQl4XUhz90. Donations in Boyd’s memory would be welcomed to First Plymouth, at the address above, or to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.