Jack Barker

Two weeks away from returning home after three and a half years of world traveling, John (Jack) William Barker III was struck and killed by a car while riding his bicycle on the Pamir Highway near Osh, Kyrgyzstan on July 17, 2023. There is no consolation for this, but it is true that while Jack died tragically young, he lived more life than most eighty-year-olds.

Jack was born in San Francisco, California on June 26, 1995, to Margaret (Peggy) Ann Finn, a Nurse Practitioner, and John William Barker II, a management consultant. He grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, where he graduated from Glenbard West High School in 2014. Jack swam competitively for 10 years for the Glen Ellyn Gators and Glenbard West High School, ran track and cross country, competed on the forensics team, and participated in Model United Nations. He sang in the One Voice Outreach Chorus throughout high school and enjoyed visiting with the senior citizens for whom the chorus performed. Jack was a member of the Glen Ellyn Destination Imagination team that won the Illinois State Championship for three consecutive years. Two of his favorite places in the US were the grounds of Camp Edwards in East Troy, Wisconsin, where he camped and swam as a boy and served as a camp counselor as a teenager, and the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois where Jack and his family were members for over 20 years. Jack visited and hiked the Arboretum frequently with his family and friends and introduced many of them to its wonders over the years.

In 2014 Jack moved to Manhattan and began his studies at New York University. He continued his involvement in Model United Nations, assuming leadership roles in NYU Model UN. This continued commitment to achieving cooperation among nations, even if in the realm of roleplaying, in hindsight augured the cosmopolitan citizen of the world Jack would soon become. In 2019 in true New York fashion, Yankee Stadium and Radio City Music Hall were the venues for Jack's NYU graduation ceremonies.

Jack's metier was the conversation. (Also a subcategory of conversation, the argument. Conventional wisdom was put on notice when Jack was in the room.) As he traveled to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Europe, Scandinavia, and finally central Asia, Jack conversed and communed with hundreds of people. As many reading this know, he documented these encounters, as well as many of his adventures (and misadventures), in emailed missives simply called "Part __ ," each of which he labeled using Roman numerals. All together they comprised Parts I-XVII. He also posted a vast number of photos and stories on Facebook and Instagram, depicting beautiful landscapes, capturing images of exotic wildlife, extolling the many friends he made, and describing the occasional mishap. He leaves an extensive record of a long journey well taken.

Jack always found employment to bankroll his adventures. He was a lettuce farmer in Hawaii. He worked in vineyards in New Zealand, South Africa, and Slovenia. In Part XIV, "They Put the Year on the Bottle for a Reason," he writes skeptically about the mystique of wine making and wine drinking; he writes presciently about the finite amount of time we all have; and he writes charmingly about belting out his grandmother's favorite, "Danny Boy," to shake off those heavy thoughts while getting his work done.

Jack was an accomplished alpine skier and, in New Zealand and Georgia, a popular ski instructor. The extended Barker family took advantage of every opportunity to hit the slopes and skiing continued to be one of Jack's great passions abroad, as he documents in Part XI, "Ski Vignettes," written in New Zealand: "Every day I was on skis with anyone was pure, pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming bliss." In 2021 Jack had the bucket-list experience of skiing on his June 26th birthday in New Zealand, where to his delight it was winter. He was also selected as "The Most Requested Ski Instructor" during the 2021 season at Porter's Alpine Resort in Canterbury, New Zealand.

A more whimsical passion Jack pursued during his travels was seeking out and sampling candy wherever he visited. Jack ate and Instagrammed about indigenous candy in many of the countries he explored. Not incidentally, he experienced the dental care systems of quite a few countries as well, usually urgently.

During the global pandemic and quarantine of 2020 & 2021, Jack hiked the Great Walks of New Zealand in the mountains of Fiordland National Park. His travels took him to the spectacular Kepler Track (a UNESCO Heritage Site), the Milford Track (known as the "finest walk in the world"), and the Milford Sound (considered the 8th Wonder of the World).

After trading his backpack for a bicycle in South Africa in 2022, Jack pedaled over 2000 miles north to Tanzania where he summited Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet). He concluded the African portion of his journey with a week of scuba diving off the island of Zanzibar.

His final expedition found him cycling over 2500 miles from Tbilisi, Georgia, ascending the Caucasus Mountains, crossing the Caspian Sea, and navigating the mountainous terrain along the Silk Road and the Pamir Highway on his journey to Toktogul in the Republic of Kyrgyz.

Jack entitled Part XVI "Why I Salute." Hand gestures are tricky in travel because they may mean different things in different places. Jack discovered the salute was a safe, respectful way to greet and depart from people in all countries: "When I salute people there is confusion sometimes about why I chose the salute but there's never misinterpretation about what the salute is." In "Why I Salute," Jack reveals what a wonderful American ambassador he was as he traveled through countries, cultures, languages, political situations, time zones, etc. His younger self, the Model UN geek, would have been proud of his one-man diplomatic success across continents, achieved through the simple means of friendly conversations, resulting in many enduring friendships; honest labor to earn an honest wage; and, in arriving and leaving, always an insouciant salute.

While he traveled around the globe, Jack had many family members and friends waiting for him stateside. He is survived by his father John Barker II (Bev Drumm), his sister Mary Elizabeth (M.E.) Barker, (Bree Schafer); his great uncle Lt. General George Barker, USA Retired; his aunts, Joanne Csukor (Al Csukor), Mary Finn (Harry Samuels), and Nora Finn (Charles Alexander); his uncles, Jeff Barker (Laurel Barker) and Tom Finn (Susan Finn); as well as his cousins, Finn Alexander, Jeff Barker (Amanda Barker) Tom Barker (Devon Barker), Hannah Boyer (Paul Boyer), Ben Csukor (Emily Csukor), Eric Csukor, Sam Csukor (Kylie Csukor), Jacqueline Glamkowski (Matt Glamkowski), Jack Finn, Mike Finn, Jacob Finn-Samuels, and Sean Finn-Samuels (Julia Thelen). He is also survived by fourteen and counting first cousins once removed.

Jack was predeceased by his grandparents, Margaret & John Finn, Jacqueline Barker, and John & Janice Barker; and his beloved mother Peggy Finn.

A memorial will be held to commemorate Jack's life on Saturday, September 16th, 2023 in the Arbor Room at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois (admission to the Arboretum is complimentary for all memorial service attendees). The wake will be held at 12pm CT and the service will commence at 1pm. All are welcome to attend to celebrate and share their memories of Jack.

The Barker family invites Jack's friends and family to be their guests at Shannon's Irish Pub at 428 North Main Street in Glen Ellyn, Illinois immediately following the memorial service to share a meal and your favorite Jack Barker anecdotes.

Written by Mary Finn

With contributions from Bennett Csukor,
M.E. Barker, and John Barker