Walter Burke Barbe

1926 - 2020

Walter Burke Barbe was born on October 30, 1926, in Miami, Florida to Victor and Edith Barbe, and died at home in Honesdale on October 14, 2020, a few weeks short of his 94th birthday.

He completed school in Miami and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, working in a hospital in Texas. Afterward, he attended Northwestern University for a bachelor's degree in 1949, a master's the following year, and a PhD in 1953.

From there he went on to a distinguished career in higher education, specializing in reading and education of the gifted, with professorships at Baylor University, the University of Chattanooga, and Kent State University, before moving to Honesdale in 1964 to become Editor of Highlights for Children.

During the Highlights years he maintained a substantial academic presence as a guest lecturer all around the country and as an adjunct professor at institutions like the University of Pittsburgh and the Ohio State University.

In 1972, when Highlights acquired the venerable Zaner-Bloser Company, publisher of handwriting textbooks, he became its editor and built it up to a national leader in textbooks for the language arts.

He published a number of books under his own name, including literature textbooks for schools, handbooks for teachers, collections of essays on educational topics, and the pioneering Psychology and Education of the Gifted of 1965.

After retiring in 1992, Walter turned his energy toward the pursuit of local history and philanthropy, much of it revolving around the interrelated subjects of the glass industry, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and White Mills.

He was instrumental in the establishment of the Dorflinger Glass Museum and the Dorflinger Factory Museum, and in the restoration of the White Mills locktender's house.

With his collaborator Kurt Reed he published the History of Wayne County, Pennsylvania (1798–1998) in 1998 and The Glass Industry in Wayne County, Pennsylvania in 2003.

He was presented with the Richard L. Kreitner Award for Community Service by the Wayne County Historical Society in 2016.

While in Chattanooga, he adopted his son Frederick Barbe, and shortly after arriving in Honesdale, needing advice on Fred's college choices, he consulted Marilyn Wood at Honesdale High School; they married on February 7, 1967 and moved to Atco, where they lived for almost fifty years, returning to Honesdale in 2014. Fred died in 2014, and Marilyn survives him.

Walter Barbe leaves a great many friends in this community and in the wider communities of education and publishing. And it is fair to say that no one who knew him, ever knew anyone quite like him. His combination of intellect, integrity, generosity, kindness, charm, and boundless energy does not come around often. Wayne County is an infinitely richer and stronger place for his years here.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no services. Services will be held in the spring at the convenience of the family.