Obituary: Dr. Robert H. Barker Jr.

Dr. Robert H. Barker Jr., of Canton, died peacefully on Saturday, September 24, 2022, at the age of 69, after battling colon cancer. Born in Boston, he was a graduate of St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH (’71) and received a BA in history from Yale University (’75) before switching to his passion in science and earning a MS from Northeastern University (’79) and a PhD from Brown University (’84).

Rob was a brilliant scientist who worked in the biomedical field researching and developing treatments for rare and infectious diseases, starting at Harvard School of Public Health and ending his professional career as a Distinguished Scientific Fellow at Sanofi Genzyme.

He loved his local community, serving on the Canton School Committee for 10 years (four as chair) and on the Canton Finance Committee, totaling nearly two decades of service. Rob had a beautiful tenor voice and loved to sing, performing solos while puttering around the house as well as singing with the Yale Glee Club (where he met his wife, Marla), Chorus pro Musica in Boston, and locally with the Canton Choral Society.

Raised in both Brookline and Wareham, Rob was an avid sailor and a mediocre fisherman, spending as much time as possible on the sea. A voracious reader on any subject, fact or fiction, he had a seemingly endless set of skills, including carpentry, plumbing, cooking, and gardening. Politically engaged and with a wealth of knowledge on any subject, he could argue a point with certainty and conviction, even, perhaps especially, if he was mistaken. Rob was a true Renaissance man.

Rob filled his life with adventure, so there were no shortage of “Robbie stories” to entertain his extended family — dousing the family dog in maple syrup and oatmeal to “experiment” as a young child, shooting out every window in his father’s barn (wanting to have some fun since he would get in trouble for the first accidental shot anyway), surprising his mother with a horde of baby pheasants (about 70) in tow when she went to pick him up from boarding school, and a wealth of nautical antics, all painstakingly recorded in his captain’s logs, to name a few.

A traditionalist, Rob’s style (or lack thereof) changed only once: in 2020, when he responded to his cancer diagnosis with a commitment to wear crab t-shirts every day as a nod to the astrological constellation and in defiance of the disease.

Rob could be curmudgeonly in the face of new trends or technologies; his extensive education gave him the ability to explain the most complex scientific concepts in great and lengthy detail but failed to equip him to ever successfully DVR a Patriots game on his own. He delighted in inventing inappropriate nicknames for everything from local stores to national politicians, and he always had a mischievous twinkle in his eye. His warmth, generosity, courage, humor, insatiable curiosity, and articulate use of profanity will live on in all of us.

Rob is the son of the late Robert H. Barker and Athalia Ogden Barker. He was the devoted husband of 45 years to Marla Schay Barker of Canton and the loving father of Amanda R. Barker of Chicago and Naomi C. Barker of Boston. He was the loving brother of Athalia Barker Esty of Andover, Margaret Barker Christie of Maryland, Elizabeth Barker Abbott of Andover, and Alice Barker Canham of Wareham. He is survived by 13 nieces and nephews, as well as numerous grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Rob changed the lives of everyone he met whether they were colleagues, caregivers, or even casual acquaintances; his local boatyard, for example, counted him as one of their all-time favorite customers. His family is humbled and honored by the outpouring of love and support they have received from loved ones and friends. They are especially grateful for the tireless compassion and care provided by his teams at Dana-Farber, Brigham and Women’s, and Care Dimensions Hospice. With medical and familial support alongside him, Rob was the model of facing down adversity with honesty, love, grace and humor.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Greater Boston Food Bank, an organization he supported generously (gbfb.org).

A celebration of his life will be held in the fall. Arrangements by the Pushard Family Funeral Home, 210 Sherman Street, www.roache-pushard.com.

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