John Andrew Barber

Mr. John Andrew Barber of Dunwoody, Georgia, proud father and grandfather, passed away peacefully on May 31, 2023 in Roswell, Georgia, surrounded by family.

“Jabby,” as he was known to his friends, was born March 26, 1936 in Youngstown, Ohio to John William Barber and Lena Athaliah Barber, both deceased, and was preceded in death by his sister Diane. He spent the first 36 years of his life in Youngstown before moving to Poughkeepsie, New York and then to Burlington, Vermont and finally in 1979 to Dunwoody, Georgia. He was very proud of his Youngstown “roots.” He graduated with honors from The Rayen High School before spending two years at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; he then spent two years in the United States Marine Corps before graduating in 1961 from Youngstown State University with a degree in Industrial Engineering. In 1961, he married Vivian Sherwin and they were together for 46 years before her passing in 2007.

He spent 36 years with IBM, starting as a computer salesman in Youngstown, then was a sales school instructor in New York before moving to Burlington as the marketing manager for the state of Vermont. In 1979 he came to Georgia and worked in various marketing and management jobs for IBM before retiring in 1998. Vivian and he traveled after retirement including four trips to Europe which they both enjoyed due to their love of history.

Mr. Barber was a top amateur golfer in Youngstown, qualifying for match play in two National Caddy tournaments during high school. He played on the golf team at Cornell and also at Youngstown State. While in the Marines, he played on the base golf team at the Quantico marine base in Virginia. He qualified in 1958 for the All-Marine Golf Championships in El Toro, California. He was the club champion at Mill Creek Golf Course in 1963 and was Low Amateur (finishing 8th overall) in the 1966 Youngstown Open. He was a member of the board of directors of both the Youngstown “Y” League and the Youngstown District Amateur Golf Association. He was a member of Dunwoody Country Club in Dunwoody, Georgia where he was active in the golf program plus he served on the Board of Governors for three years. He was a member of the Georgia Amateur Hockey Association for ten years serving on their board of directors plus coaching house and travel teams. He was certified by United States Diving as a judge and officiated at local and high school meets. He was a member of American Mensa Ltd. He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, John Scott and Gretchen Barber of Roswell, Georgia and Jay Sherwin and Katie Barber of Walland, Tennessee, as well as his grandchildren Cameron, Emily, Maya and Gabe Barber. Visitation will be held at the H. M. Patterson & Son Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Road NE, Sandy Springs, Georgia at noon on Sunday, June 4th with funeral services following at 1:00 pm. A reception for family and friends will immediately follow at Dunwoody Country Club, 1600 Dunwoody Club Drive, Atlanta. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the general scholarship fund at Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, Ohio 44555.