So sorry to hear about Ben.  Many happy memories on New Years at Skymeadow and on treasure hunting on Oak Island!  He was a wonderful guy!

Dearest Laura, Juan, and Rogelio
Ben will be missed terribly and remembered fondly. It was our great privilege and honor to be among those he called friend. Ben had a wonderful laugh, a generous heart, and a caring smile.
Most of all, Ben loved you dearly. 
May you all have peace and comfort in the coming days. 
Love 
Robert and Paula

There are friends and then, there are great friends that close the personal boundary space all of us have since birth.  Ben and I shared mutual interests.  I met him when he bought a share of an airplane in which I also had one.  That lead to hundreds of hours flying together sharping our instrument flight rules skills.  He also joined my old timer's penny poker group where the joy of jokes was greater than the chance of treasure.

Ben was a unique man with many facets to his personality.   He was highly educated, soft spoken, honest beyond words, always willing to help when he detected a need, and knowledgeable in topics from A to Z.  I found him fascinated and thoroughly enjoyable to be with.  I couldn't help but like him.

I have lost a dear friend.  I will miss him to my dying days.  Go in peace my friend.

Ben came to Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN) from Harvard University to work on the ARPAnet IMP project, first as a hardware engineer under Severo Ornstein.  Ben eventually organized the BBN maintenance group that took over ARPAnet maintenance from Honeywell and was instrumental in converting the ARPAnet from a research project to a utility.  ARPAnet was the first small corner of today's Internet, and Ben played a key role in making it work.  Ben then went on to become president of several BBN subsidiaries.  After BBN, Ben sat on the boards of several corporations.  Ben was an avid sailor, an enthusiastic motorcyclist, and a devoted father.  Ben, thank you for your friendship through the 50+ years we have known each other.

Mr. Barker… Ben, que difícil decir adiós a el gran 
ser humano como tú, con tantas virtudes.
Te recordaré escuchando anécdotas fascinantes
sobre tú vida, la calidez al recibir a la familia y pasar momentos inolvidables juntos alrededor de
la mesa, siempre con una sonrisa y oírte decir “Salud” Gracias Ben!    Te extrañaremos.

Te llevaremos siempre en nuestros corazones  y sin duda Dios tiene un lugar especial para ti.
Siempre te Recordamos! 
Familia: Barrera Treviño.

Tio Ben, It’s so hard to not cry during this time, but it’s comforting when every memory we have of you is fun and happy. I’m going to miss watching you master the Rubix cube every single time, laugh about you and Arlo being called ‘Benjamin’ only when you’re being bad. Laugh about when you send me your famous salmon recipe and write “put the salmon skin side down”. And remember the time when Bella cried and cried when we left your house because she forgot to give you a cookie she saved you all the way from Dallas. You were so good to us. You can finally sail all throughout the seas of heaven, you deserve to be free and happy. We love you more than we can ever say. Take care of us. Take care of Laurita, Ro, and JCarlitos. We love you Tio Ben and we will always think about you. Raising our glass to you, with a strong G&T just like you liked it.

OBITUARY

William Benjamin Barker, Ph.D.

June 2, 1947 – June 3, 2023

Porter Loring Mortuary - McCullough

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