Elwood "Kenneth" Barker

Elwood “Kenneth” Barker, a lifelong resident of St. Tammany Parish, went to Heaven on January 7, 2024.  He was born on September 18, 1936 and lived most of his life in the Lee Road area.  He was married to the late Margaret Mendow Barker for over 67 years.  He is survived by his sons Jeff (Tonia), Craig, and Jody (Sheila) Barker.  Paw or Pops is survived by grandchildren Summer (Dustin) Hughes, Annie Barker, Amelia Barker (Keaton), Clayton Barker (Lauren) and Riley Barker and Great Grandchildren Ava Fauntleroy, Veronica Hughes, Blair Barker, and Baby Barker due in May 2024.

He is preceded in death by his parents Elwood and Amelia Allison Barker, his brother William P. Barker, and survived by his sisters Mary Ellen Barker, Beth Mclain, Bobbie Keller, and Debi Barker(Larry), sister-in-law Cindy Barker and brother in law Duane Guillory. He leaves behind a hosts of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends that loved him dearly  

Kenneth served in the Louisiana National Guard for 8 years and he began working at a young age at Louisiana Tung and then moved on to work for Houk Television and Appliance Store as a repairman.  He worked with various construction and utilities companies and became a supervisor on many projects that included placement of many utility poles throughout Washington and St. Tammany Parish.  He went on to work offshore for several years and part of his time was spent working on the ship, “The Stena Inspector” in the Bay of Campeche as a maintenance engineer.

He became certified in Instrumentation and excelled in his field quickly becoming supervisor on most jobs. He worked in the instrumentation field for many years with his primary employer being B.E.&K. He traveled to many states as a supervisor for B.E.&K.  and developed lifelong friends with his work crew.  He retired from Northstar (subsidiaries of  Bellsouth/B.E.&K.) after working over 60 years.

He was a gentle man, made conversation easily and was a wonderful story teller. He was happiest when spending time with family and friends.  In his spare time Kenneth enjoyed reading, making ties for fly fishing (he spent many hours teaching this art to his grandchildren and some of kids at Lee Road School) and walking. He was a lifelong member of Fitzgerald Church and a founding member of Fitzgerald’s Food Ministry, volunteer at Lee Road School’s reading program and made many special friends throughout his time of volunteering for the church and school. 

Services will be held at Fitzgerald Church located at 80007 Fitzgerald Church Road, Covington La 70435 on January 21, 2024 at 2pm with visitation from 12pm-2pm. A private burial will be held at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Fitzgerald Church’s meal ministry.

The family would like to thank Jan Myers for her tireless efforts in caring for our dad, the staff of Forest Manor (especially 200 hall) for all their kindness, patience and love they have shown to both Dad and family, and to the staff of St. Catherine’s Hospice for making his last days peaceful.