Edwin Arnold Barber

Edwin Arnold Barber, Sr; 81 of El Paso, Texas, passed away, Friday, May 20, 2016 at Providence East Hospital. Visitation will be at Hillcrest Funeral Home on Tuesday, May 24 from 5:00 to 9:00 pm with a Rosary to follow at 7:00 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 9:30 am on Wednesday, May 25 at St. Raphael with Interment to follow at Fort Bliss National Cemetery at 11:00am. Memorials may be made to Wounded Warriors Project or by donating blood in his memory at the Red Cross. Those wishing to sign Ed’s guestbook may do so at http://www.dignitymemorial.com/hillcrest-funeral-home.

Ed was born November 13, 1934 in the Sweet Home community of Chambers County, Alabama to Andrew and Mary (Golden) Barber. He graduated from Gray Hill School in Troup County, Georgia at the age of 15 in 1950 and from Berry College in Rome, Georgia in 1954. He then served in the Army from March 1955 to March 1957 during the Korean War. He then worked on the Eastern Test Range in the Bahamas during the early years of the Ballistic Missile Defense programs, where he met and married his one and only sweetheart of 58 years, the former Margaret Elizabeth Jordan of Portland, Maine. He then started his career as an Air Traffic Controller for the Federal Aviation Administration which took him and his new family all over the place like Oklahoma City, OK, Deming, NM, Agana Guam, and finally to El Paso, TX. He retired from the FAA at the age of 56 with 30+ years of service in 1990. By this time he had already been substituting in the Ysleta School System for 11 years, and he continued to substitute for 26 more years up until his recent hospitalization. When Hanks High School in El Paso first opened up, Ed started substituting there and he fell in love with them, and they as well with him thus, he became somewhat a fixture. He loved Hanks High School. When Ed wasn’t working he developed several hobbies. He always wanted to be a pilot, and did just that by earning his Private Pilot License with Multi-Engine Land rating, and had several hundred hours towards his Commercial rating while living on Guam, and in El Paso. He loved collecting all kinds of things like United States Quarters, and Space Shuttle Patches. He also loved watching baseball, and other sports, but even better, he liked watching Hanks Softball, and Basketball. Ed is survived by his wife, Margaret Jordan Barber, daughter Andrea Barber Duke, and her husband Shane of La Porte TX, son Edwin “Eddie” A. Barber, Jr; and his wife Jeana of Huntsville, AL, daughter Renee Barber Pena, and her husband Steve of Midland, TX, daughter Jackie Barber Brown of El Paso, TX, daughter Joyce Barber of El Paso, TX, daughter Lisa Barber Miller, and her husband Todd of Alamogordo, NM, and son Michael “Mike” Barber of El Paso, TX, 16 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, brother Andy Barber of San Jose, CA, brother Larry Barber of West Point, GA, sister Joyce Bell of Deming, NM, and sister Ellen Phillips of West Point, GA. Ed was preceded in death by his parents Andrew and Mary Barber and his brother Henry Barber of Baton Rouge, LA. Services are under the direction of Hillcrest Funeral Home, 1060 N. Carolina, 598-3332.