William Halsey Barker Jr.

On September 17, Dr. William Halsey Barker Jr. died in Rochester New York, at the age of 82, following two weeks of hospitalization for an acute illness. Dr. Barker was the son of William Halsey Barker and Mary Randol Barker of Baltimore.

Bill's daughter Maria and his twin brother Randy were at his side during the week of his terminal illness.

He leaves a legacy of deep curiosity, engagement and caring…in his career as a physician, in a full life shared with his family and many friends, and in his ardent commitment to causes of social justice, As he voiced movingly in his self-Published memoir "Writings and Ramblings" (2022), Bill regarded his wife of 55 years, Malla, who died in 2021, as the person who brought to him the joy that propelled all else in his life. Together he and Malla lived in Baltimore (medical school, residency), Atlanta and Olympia Washington (US Public Health Service, Epidemiologic Intelligence Service of the CDC), and Rochester, where he joined the faculty of the University of Rochester Medical School in 1975 and spent the remainder of his career. A one-year sabbatical in Edinburgh Scotland 1982-83 greatly broadened the horizons of Bill, Malla and their young children Joseph and Maria.

In pursuing medicine, Bill followed in the footsteps of his grandfather Dr. Lewellys F Barker, who was head of medicine at Johns Hopkins 1905 to 1914, and of his father Dr. William Halsey Barker, who was an assistant dean at the medical school until his death due to cancer at the age of 40. Bill's career in medicine ranged from field research on mechanisms of inflammation in Roscoff, on the coast of Brittany, to his lifetime of work in epidemiology, geriatric health services, and preventive medicine. His scholarly publications contributed importantly to the body of knowledge guiding American medicine during his lifetime. His widely-lauded monograph "Adding Life to Years" (Johns Hopkins Press 1987) recounted his in-depth findings about geriatric health services in the United Kingdom, findings with implications for the improvement of geriatric health services in the United States.

His leadership in the campaign to make Influenza vaccine a standard of care in Monroe County New York and throughout the United States (1988-1992) and his leadership as president of the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine (1998-2000) were major contributions to public health.

Above all, he had a lasting impact on the physicians of today and tomorrow through his animated teaching of epidemiology, geriatrics, and preventive medicine to generations of students at the University of Rochester.

Bill's odyssey through life branched from medicine to multiple areas, each all-consuming of his mind and heart. While living on the Puget Sound, he and Malla savored sailing their Cal 20 the Belle Bete, which they brought east to enjoy on the Chesapeake Bay. Malla's upbringing on a Wisconsin dairy farm made their 1981 acquisition of an 80-acre farm in Naples, NY to which he occasionally bicycled the 45 miles from Rochester, a natural. On the farm, Bill loved cutting and splitting wood, blazing hiking and cross-country ski trails on his tractor, and making cider with friends and neighbors. He and Malla offered family and friends boisterous welcomes to their annual 4th of July Barn Dance and to Thanksgiving gatherings full of fun times inside, outside, and fireside…always including a free-style "Koochie-Koo" dance performance with his twin brother. Nephews and nieces memorialized the joy of these times in the ballad "Let's All Go Up The Smiling Hill To Billy And Malla's Farm," a many-stanza riff on Arlo Guthrie's talking blues classic "Alice's Restaurant."

Bill loved nothing more than introducing a succession of youngsters…his son Joe and daughter Maria, plus Maria's four kids Louie, Antonio, Precious, and Romeo …to activities such as cross-country skiing, horseback trekking, book-snooping in libraries, and train trips…one kid at a time…to Manhattan and Canada.

Bill's journeys with Malla to Viet Nam, China, Turkey, and various spots in Europe with the organization Overseas Adventure Travel generated enduring interest in each destination. He particularly treasured their one week 1998 hut-to-hut cross country ski trek in Norway, homeland of Malla's Nowegian forebears, and recounted this trek in a detailed journal.

Writings in multiple journals…and untold numbers of artefacts from his many-facetted life…offered Bill, in conjunction with Randy, all he needed to put together his voluminous memoir "Writings and Rambling". The tome was filled with primary material, including excerpts from the daily journal he had kept since sophomore year at Princeton 1960, which he called "Self and Other Selves".

Other highlights of his memoir are tributes to long-time friends, voiced in his unique language of affection; journal entries from his and Randy's 1963 traverse of Spain and Greece on Lambrettas; entries recounting working on Silver Tip Ranch in Montana 1960 and 1961; remembrances of each school he attended: Calvert (Class of 1952), Gilman (Class of 1958), Princeton (Class of 1962), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Class of 1966); and poignant accounts of his life published in seasonal issues of The Highlands Review during his residence at at the Highlands of Pittsford.

Per Randy, his brother's past 7 years at the Highlands "awakened in Billy a mother lode of energy devoted to humor-laden friendships and to unrelenting attention to sociopolitical affairs, attention that was anything but silent. No month passed in which he did not voice in letters to the editor pitch-perfect critiques of the nauseating politics of the American far right." Many of his letters were published, and all are included in "Writings and Ramblings".

In 2020, Bill savored the widespread display of the bumper sticker he produced and distributed urging the election of Joe Biden…in order to Bring Back Truth And Decency. Drawing on his grounding in public health, Bill objected to the tired shibboleth that Americans enjoy the best health care in the world. He would often quote Rudolf Virchow, who recognized that most improvements in health could be attributed to measures that changed the social circumstances of the population.

"God, how much can an individual tolerate in having his body abbreviated so cruelly?

Rather than retreat to some constricted space, he has chosen to remain fully committed to alleviating the suffering of others, to rail against political figures with malevolent intentions…On top of that he has unbuttoned joy in celebrating….(examples of his celebratory engagement)," These words, from his dear friend at the Highlands, Gil Jordan, capture how Bill's friends appreciated his extraordinary courage during the past 10 years, when despite being a wheelchair-bound double amputee, ravaged by maladies, he remained utterly engaged in life.

During the past decade, Bill and Malla were parishioners at Immanuel Baptist Church, a church that embraced Malla's musical gifts and Bill's commitment to social justice. There they experienced abundant spiritual warmth that greatly enriched their lives.

Bill is survived by his son Joseph Barker and his wife Karin McCoy of San Antonio TX, his daughter Maria Rosato, her husband Joseph Rosato and their four children Louie, Antonio, Precious and Romeo all of Rushville NY; by his four siblings Betty Frank of Englewood NJ, Lew Barker and his spouse Eileen of Chevy Chase MD, Randy Barker and his spouse Marie Claire of Baltimore MD, Sugie Weiss and her spouse Martin of Brooklyn NY; by his brother-in-law Paul Anderson of Sturgeon Bay WI; and by many adoring nephews and nieces from his and Malla's families.

A celebration of Bill's life is planned for November 5 in Rochester, coordinated by Anthony Funeral Chapels.