David Thomas Barker

David Thomas Barker, 53, of Jonesboro, Arkansas passed away October 1, 2025. David was born on April 7, 1972, in Stuttgart, Arkansas. He graduated from Lonoke High School, the Jackrabbits in 1990. He loved music and played the trombone in the band in high school, also loved to play the piano.

He started to work in Long Term Care right out of high school. He worked in the complaint section. He then worked at the Beebe Retirement Center where he received his administrator’s license. David then went to Des Arc Nursing and Rehab, as administrator for Diversicare. He then received promotion as Regional Manager of the Arkansas Region for Diversicare in 2000 through 2010. David did an amazing job at building a strong consultant team and under his direction helped turn 13 facilities from having bad surveys to all having Excellence Quality Awards. He then went to work for Reliance as their Compliance Director. He helped build their program to what it is today. He moved on to the new VA Nursing home in North Little Rock, AR and was there during Covid, which was a very challenging time for everyone but especially Long-Term Care. He loved serving the veterans. He then went to Credence Health Care, as President of Operations, that’s where he worked until his passing.

He was known all over the state, for his love and compassion for the elderly, and everyone he encountered. David was always positive and found the good in everyone. He was an encourager, would do anything he could to always make someone feel better. He had the biggest heart of anyone around and would help in any way possible to give whatever he could to make someone’s life better. David is truly going to be missed by all who knew and loved him.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm, Saturday, October 4, 2025, at Palm Street Church of Christ in Lonoke. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society at cancer.org and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Arkansas (NAMI of Arkansas) 1012 Autumn Road Suite 1, Little Rock, Arkansas 72211.

Arrangements by Boyd Funeral Home of Lonoke.