William G. Barrier

Lieutenant Colonel, USAF retired, William G. Barrier, age 92, passed away on Saturday, 6 April 2013. He joins his wife Virginia, with whom he shared almost 63 years of marriage prior to her death in 2007, and is survived by his sons Robert (wife Patsy) and Jack (wife Colleen) and daughter Patricia (husband David), three grandsons, one granddaughter, and two great-grandsons.

LtCol Barrier was born in Sherman, Texas and spent most of his childhood in Oklahoma, graduating from Seminole High School in 1938. Voluntarily enlisting soon after Pearl Harbor, he served in World War II as an Army Air Corps P-51 gunnery instructor and fighter/bomber pilot (Pacific Theater), in the Korean War as an Air Force fighter pilot, and in the Vietnam Conflict as a forward air controller, flying “Gooney Bird” gunships. He retired from the Air Force in 1967. Following his military retirement, he worked in the Ground Safety office at Randolph Air Force Base and served as the Safety rep on the Air Training Command/Inspector General Team until 1988. Among his family, his Air Force friends, and the community, he was known and admired for his ability to fix just about anything and was famous in the family for his “this is just a 30 minute job” saying. He will be greatly missed.

Services will be at the Sunset Memorial Funeral Home, 1701 Austin Highway, San Antonio, on Saturday, 13 April at 1000. A private interment at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery will follow at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org/involved/donate) or the Air Force Aid Society (www.afas.org/training/ways-to-give).