Horacio Barahona

Dr. Barahona was born in 1933 in Santiago, Chile. He received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Universidad de Chile in 1959. In 1964, Dr. Barahona was granted a fellowship to study at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and immigrated to the United States along with his young family. He received a Master’s degree in Veterinary Science in 1965 and a Doctorate in Virology from the School of Veterinary Medicine in 1967. He also became a life-long fan of the Green Bay Packers during that time and was often seen in his Packers hat.

After receiving his Doctorate, Dr. Barahona moved to Framingham, MA, to work at the New England Regional Primate Research Center, a division of Harvard University. In 1976, he accepted a position with the Pan-American Health Organization, part of the World Health Organization, where he worked to create and implement vaccination laboratories for animal populations. During his time at PAHO, the family lived in Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil. Upon his retirement in 1994, Dr. Barahona retired to his home in Santiago, Chile where he was surrounded by friends and family. In 2017, he relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina to be closer to his children in the United States.

Dr. Barahona is survived by his wife of 67 years, Doris Avendaño Barahona. She was the love of his life and her selfless devotion to him during the last period of his life was a great testament to their love.

He is also survived by his three children, Doris Barahona-Burton and her husband Bob of Charlotte, North Carolina; Gonzalo Barahona and his wife Sharon of Yardley, Pennsylvania; and Gloria Turnbull and her husband Matt of Laguna Niguel, California.

Dr. Barahona was immensely proud of his seven grandchildren, Daniel, Patrick, Melissa, Jaclyn, Alison, Alejandro and Martín. He followed their life experiences and accomplishments with great joy.

Throughout his life, Dr. Barahona was devoted to scientific study and read extensively on scientific topics well into his 80’s. He and Doris also enjoyed travel and visited countries all over the world, including Italy, France, Greece, Croatia, Russia, China and Japan. However, his most frequent travel was to Patagonia in his beloved Chile. The raw beauty of that area was captured in his many photos. His children and grandchildren carry on his spirit of curiosity and passion for exploring the world.

The family will have a private memorial service. In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research.