Roy Lake Barber

Roy Lake Barber, age 92, of Roanoke, Texas, peacefully returned to his Lord and Savior on April 14, 2022. He was the only son and the youngest child born to Roy H. Barber and Ada Ruth Mathis Barber on June 9, 1929 in Caddo, Oklahoma. His father owned one of the local grocery stores in town, which is where he learned to butcher meat. When he was 16 years old, he was asked by someone who knew of his skills to fill in for the butcher for the officers of Perrin Field Air Force Station outside of Sherman, Texas. Their butcher was a no-show. He did this for the summer months. Several years later he was a part-time butcher at Kroger grocery store.

He attended Southeastern State College for two years, then enlisted in the US Navy in 1950. There he went to Aviation Electronics Training School in 1951 and was an aviation electronics technician from 1951-1954. When he left the Navy, he secured a job with Braniff Airlines in 1954. He started in the Radio Shop and worked in various positions for 12 years, working his way up to a flight crew technical instructor. He had the privilege of training for a month in Great Britain. He maintained his position teaching recurrent training to pilots from 1966 until Braniff filed for bankruptcy in 1982. He and his family got to travel to several countries as a result of airline employment. Working for Braniff was like working with a large family. Several of the men who worked in the Training Department have remained close friends to this day.

Roy was an avid fisherman. He would fish from the shores of ponds and rivers, from all kinds of boats, even wading in a flotation device. His favorite fish to catch were striped bass and crappie. He almost always caught more than anybody close to him. As a sideline for his job at Braniff, he used to repair televisions when they had replaceable tubes. Then he began raising tropical fish and selling them to retailers. He said his income from that was sometimes greater than what he made at Braniff.

He always said he was a jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none. There was no project that was too difficult for him to attempt. He decided to move out to the country in the early 70’s where he had an underground house built. The concrete walls were poured and put in place, then he finished the inside all by himself after a full day’s work at Braniff. It took a few months, needless to say.

He loved growing plants, be it vegetables, fruits or flowers. He had a green thumb like no other. Often he would take his surplus of vegetables to various friends. He was also a fantastic cook. He could deconstruct a recipe at a restaurant and go home and make it. It always had the same taste as in the restaurant or was even better!

Roy was always the entertainer in a group setting, telling joke after joke. He could always find humor in situations and loved to hear people laugh.

He was predeceased by wife, Barbara Matthews Barber as well as his daughter, Pamela Barber Beasley. He is survived by his daughter, Carol Johnson and son-in-law, Virgil Johnson of Richland Hills, TX, his grandson, Collin H. Grabeel of Richland Hills, TX, and his granddaughter, Chelsea M. Hube and her husband, Josh Hube of Fairbanks, Alaska. His neice, Rebecca Matson of Elk Grove, California and nephew John Impson of Riddle, Oregon.

He will definitely be missed but will remain in our hearts forever.