In Memory of Jim Barker, President of The Big C Society®

James Gerald Barker, D.D.S.

June 6, 1943–February 3, 2021

Generous, loyal, warm, supportive, loving, caring, and energetic—one of his Cal friends said, “he was a prince of a man.”

James Gerald Barker passed away unexpectedly on February 3rd following a major heart attack. He was surrounded by his wife and family. He was predeceased by his older brother, Grayden Barker, Jr. in 2019. Surviving Jim are his sister, Deanna Whiteaker-Nicholas, his three sons, Daniel Barker, Timothy Barker, and Geoffrey Barker, daughter in-in law, Heidi Barker, his adored grandchildren and the light of his life, Sierra Barker and London Barker, and his devoted wife of more than 50 years, Connie Barker. Jim was a wonderful father and role model for his sons and grandchildren, always encouraging them to do their best with integrity and a strong work ethic.

Jim was born on June 6 , 1943, to Alice Vinetta Barker and Grayden Alfred Barker in Tulare, CA, and was raised in the Central Valley for the first years of his life, residing in Tipton and Fresno, CA. Jim and his family later moved to Sunnyvale, CA where he lived until he moved to Berkeley to attend his beloved UC Berkeley (Cal).

The years that Jim spent in Sunnyvale were formative ones. He made lifelong friends with his neighbors who are still very much connected, despite geographical distances. One of his best friends, Doug Carnahan, commented at their 25 year wedding anniversary party that “Jim is the glue that keeps us all connected.” He attended Fremont high school where he ran track, wrestled, and played football, and was awarded a trophy for the most inspirational player on the football team. Graduating from Fremont High in 1961, Jim was off to Cal that fall.

While at Cal, JB, as he was nicknamed by his fraternity brothers, pledged the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity where he served as President. Once again stepping up into a leadership role, Jim made more lifelong brothers and friends. Jim joined the wrestling team at Cal, made varsity, and lettered as a junior. His pride in earning a big C persisted for the rest of his life. Jim earned his B.S. in Zoology in 1965.

Moving toward his goal of attending dental school at UC San Francisco, he enrolled at San Jose State to study for an M.S. degree in Biology. This is where his soon-to-be wife entered the picture. Jim began working part time at IBM in San Jose where Connie was living and working with her two young sons, Danny and Timmy. She was a secretary and worked full time in the south San Jose office. One of Jim’s primary responsibilities was to sort and deliver mail to all the big bosses’ secretaries. Connie Brown was one of those secretaries in 1966 and 1967.

Jim had applied to several dental schools, had not yet been accepted at UCSF, and had an acceptance at Loyola of Chicago’s Dental School. At this point, it was a quandary. Should he move to Chicago and leave Connie behind? As luck would have it, Jim was accepted at UCSF in the nick of time, and he promptly moved to Parnassus Avenue in San Francisco and began dental school in the fall of 1967. Traveling to San Jose every weekend to be with Connie and her two boys, they spent wonderful days going to Santa Cruz with the kids in tow. Jim was happy to spend time with Connie’s two boys, and he was a natural dad.

Once again, Jim and his new family were very fortunate to get a two bedroom apartment in UCSF’s married student housing complex, which was high above the campus in a rustic eucalyptus grove and perfect playground for Danny and Timmy. A couple had dropped out of school and Jim and his family were next on the waiting list. However, Jim and Connie needed to be married to lease the unit, so in March of 1968 they wed. Though they had very little money at the time, those were happy days and they met several good friends.

Dr. Barker graduated from dental school in 1971, and Connie was pregnant with their youngest son, Geoff, who was born in November of that year. Following graduation, Jim was able to join a practice in Berkeley with his good friend and former neighbor in San Francisco, Don Kavanagh. Connie was able to leave her job at IBM in downtown San Francisco, and was hired at UCSF at a cancer research lab as a copyright editor for science publications.

Jim was relieved to complete and pass his dental boards with flying colors, and was eager to move on with his life and return to his love of nature, following 10 straight years of college. An ardent outdoorsman, Jim returned to hunting, fishing, and backwoods camping following in his dad’s footsteps. As a hunter, Jim passed on the mantra he learned from his dad to his three boys: “Eat what you kill.”

Following his time as a dentist in Berkeley and San Francisco, Jim would go on to work full time as a dentist in Stockton for about 35 years. Dr. Barker had an active and loyal patient following, not only because of his skills as a dentist, but also because of his calm and positive demeanor and genuine interest in the lives of his patients.

In addition to his long career in dentistry, Jim’s volunteer work was impressive. A duck hunter for years, Jim decided that he needed to give back what he was taking out. In 1991, Jim decided he needed to step up and help revive a threatened species of duck, the wood duck, and he applied for a wildlife banding permit with State of California. Over the next decade, Jim built and monitored about 150 wood duck boxes throughout San Joaquin and Calaveras counties. Along with the help of other volunteers in the state, Jim’s efforts helped the California wood duck population grow and eventually stabilize throughout the 1990’s and into the 2000’s. He was awarded a lifetime membership to the California Waterfowl Association for his extraordinary work.

Following Connie's return to Cal to earn her B.A. in English, Jim and Connie began to travel extensively. Visiting every state in the country and number of national parks, they also were lucky enough to travel to many European countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, England, Ireland, Greece, and Spain. During a trip to Spain with their three boys, they even took a hydrofoil across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco! Jim and Connie also traveled to Budapest Hungary when their son, Geoff, was studying abroad in Vienna, Austria. In addition to their European adventures, Jim and Connie also traveled on several occasions to Canada and Mexico. Above all, Jim and Connie’s favorite places were Tahiti and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii.

In 1985, Jim and Connie bought their dream home in Morada, just east of Stockton. Originally unlandscaped, Jim began building structures to enhance their two acres of land that was surrounded by orchards. First, he built a balcony off the master bedroom, next he built his first gazebo, and then he built a second gazebo, which would later be known as “the wedding gazebo.” Eventually, he built a koi pond next to the wedding gazebo. After adding a pool and hot tub, Jim spent years landscaping the yard by adding lush, green grass and planting redwood, birch, willow, towering cottonwood trees, tulips, daffodils, and many other beautiful plants, trees, and flowers. Jim and Connie would eventually host weddings in their back yard, including Geoff and Heidi’s wedding in 1999. While they cherished their beautiful home, it became too difficult for Jim and Connie to take care of it as they aged. They sold their Morada home in 2015 and moved to Brentwood to be closer to Geoff, Heidi, and their two grandchildren, Sierra and London.

Last but definitely not least was Jim’s love of sports. He was a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan, and he took his family to many games and always cheered them on. Additionally, he loved watching the 49ers and the Warriors. And of course, his devotion to Cal football and basketball was second to none. Jim and Connie enjoyed tailgating with the founders, Burl Toler, and Ken Moulton. John Ting would later join the founders and became a fixture, always serving a wide array of dim sum at the parties. Following John’s passing, his son Jeff Ting took over. John and Jim’s Cal spirit will live on.

Jim’s last leadership role was being named the President of the Cal athletics alumni association, the Big C Society, where he served for two years in 2017 and 2018. He was delighted to award Jason Kidd with his Hall of Fame trophy while he served as President.

Jim was a wonderful man. In addition to leaving an outstanding legacy, he lived a very full life. Connie, as his wife of 53 years, was blessed to love and marry her life partner. She and her family will miss him very much, as will others who knew him.

The family will hold a celebration of life event later this summer or early fall in the Walnut Creek area.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jim’s name to the American Heart Association (https://www.heart.org/en/get-involved/ways-to-give) and/or the California Waterfowl Association’s Wood Duck Program (https://www.calwaterfowl.org/donate/).