Thomas Lee Barbour

The Barbour family shares the passing of Thomas Lee Barbour, born in Manteca, California on May 10, 1941, and passed away on October 30, 2022, in Merced, California. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend. Tom was devoted to his family and always supported the interests and ambitions of his family and friends.

During his childhood he lived in Modesto, going to John Sutter Elementary and Roosevelt Jr. High School. He recalled many memorable hours with his cousins and their families’ yearly trips to Santa Cruz or camping in the Sierras. His family moved to the ranch in Ceres, and he graduated Ceres High School in 1959. His plan was to join the Army and serve his country in the National Guard and return home to enter Modesto Jr College to prepare himself for his part in the family business. When the opportunity arose for him and his brother, Rodney, to build a full-service carwash in downtown Merced, they both moved their young families and thus was the start of his business career. They were exceptional businessmen, and it wasn’t too long before they acquired Merced Yamaha and Open Road RV. When the carwash downtown was taken by eminent domain, he finished a degree at Merced College and got his Real Estate Brokers license and worked with Mike Salvadori.

While Tom’s life was devoted to providing for his family, he also enjoyed the competition of many sports and treasured the natural beauty of the outdoors. His love of racing cars started in 1965 when he purchased a Shelby GT 350. He auto crossed and did very well. A dealer at Hayward Ford said they repossessed a 1965 289 Shelby Cobra. He bought that and continued to win championships with it until it became too valuable to risk damage. At the same time, he had Merced Speedway close by and a chance to figure out how to win on dirt. It was a challenge at first but even with a six-cylinder motor he could win. This led to his many years racing Merced, Watsonville, Chico, and many other popular Dirt speedways. He also ran Enduro’s with his dirt bike, the last one Suzuki 400. And when he was told by his doctor that he should find a sport that would be easier on his body he chose a BMW 1200 RT. With that he rode with a great group of people, so many years and enduring friendships.

Tom’s passion for family and motorsports merged as he retired from competition himself and devoted his competitive energy into helping his son-in-law Kenny Shepherd with his racing career. The highlight of that effort was a second-place championship finish in the NASCAR Southwest Tour Series to a future NASCAR Cup champion named Kurt Busch. Tom became friends with many notable NASCAR stars such as Ernie Irvan, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards to name a few.

He is survived by his wife Susan (Anderson) Barbour, his daughters, Deborah Barbour (Roger) and Tammy Barbour Shepherd (Kenny). Tom was a loving grandfather to Brittney Shepherd (Cody) and Kiley Shepherd. Great grandson, Lakoah. Tom will be greatly missed by his step sister Lani Giovanetti and step brother John Giovanetti and their respective families and Sister-in-law Lynn Anderson, as well as his many nieces, nephews, cousins, and loyal friends.

Tom was preceded in death by his father, Walter E. Barbour. Mother, Thelma (Brown) Barbour. Stepmother, Amelia (Genesci-Giovanetti) Barbour, Sisters, Marlene (Barbour) Brown, brother, Rodney Barbour and sister Terri Barbour.

Celebration of Life luncheon to be held on December 5, 2022 at noon, at the Elks Lodge in Merced at 1910 M Street. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to Merced Hinds Hospice at https://www.hindshospice.org/donate/

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.stratfordevansfunerals.com for the Barbour family.