~ IN MEMORY ~
Military veteran, BO/RW/NWA Captain Curtis L. Barber
December 29, 1936 - February 13, 2021
As noted in the April-May Air Line Pilot magazine’s In
Memoriam column, the passing of retired Northwest pilot Captain Curtis L.
Barber. As noted in his obituary, Curtis
Lane Barber first joined Bonanza Air Lines on 12-11-1964. Making the mergers with Air West, he then would
have retired with Northwest Airlines. He
is survived by his wife Pamela, by his children and his grand- and great grandchildren.
Obituary information may be viewed online at the funeral
home site: https://www.moapavalleymortuary.com/obituary/Curtis-Barber also at
https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/20004290/Curtis-Barber/Logandale/Nevada/Virgin-Valley-Moapa-Valley-Mortuaries and at https://mvprogress.com/2021/02/17/obituary-curtis-lane-barber/
For those wishing to send a personal note, the family’s address
is listed in whitepages as
PO Box 208,
Logandale, NV 89021
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
Obituary : Curtis
Lane Barber was born on December 29, 1936 in Redmond, Oregon to Margaret
Lillian Varnes and Theodore Calvin Barber. He had an older sister, Beverly, who
he began tagging along after as soon as he was able. He departed life on
February 13, 2021. In between those events, he led a life full of adventure.
He always loved animals and loved having them around whether
it was dogs, horses, cattle, birds or even stray wild creatures that he rescued
and brought home like his bobcats he raised and then released back into the
wilds of Northern Nevada when he was a teen.
He learned to fly at an early age from his father and was
very good at it. An airplane was an extension, a tool to enjoy the freedom of
the air and get where he needed to go whether that was the post office or high
school. He joined the Air Force straight out of high school with the dream of
becoming an astronaut. He qualified, started the training, but then Congress
cut the funding and his class was one of those cut, so he joined the Air
National Guard. He married Fern Irene Rice on September 1, 1959. Over the
years, they had ten children. During their married life, he worked as a chemist
for the Bureau of Mines while in college, then he graduated from UNR with a
degree in Chemistry and went on to never use that degree again. Instead, he
signed on with Bonanza Airlines as a pilot. He always said, it beat working for
a living. He flew as an airline pilot until the government retired him at age
60. He also flew for the Guard during that time, until he retired as a Major
after 20 years. That included time in both the Arctic and the Pacific flying
missions through some of the nuclear testing and a year and a half from home
flying secretive missions into South America, Vietnam, and over Korea. His
Guard unit was a reconnaissance unit, so he wasn’t always able to say where
he’d been or what he’d been doing.
Flying wasn’t Curtis’ whole life though. He joined The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he was 19. He loved the gospel
and took every opportunity to share it. He was involved in missionary work
whenever he could be and looked forward to the time when he could serve a
full-time mission when his family was grown. However, Fern’s unexpected death
in 2000 put those plans on hold for a bit longer. Marriage to Pamela Winsor in
2002 made his dream once again a possibility and they served together in the
Baltimore, Maryland Mission while his youngest son, Calvin, was on a mission in
Mexico. Curt also served in the St. George temple 13 years and then the Las
Vegas temple for 17 years, both before and after his mission. As if all of that
wasn’t enough, he was always helping someone.
Family was also important. Curtis and Fern were given
guardianship over Beverly’s three children after her death. Kelly, Wendy, and
Suzanne Nicole became part of the family. He loved genealogy, feeling an
indebtedness to those who had come before and made his life at this time a
possibility. He also loved getting his family together and enjoying their
company. He passed some of that on to his children along with his love of animals
and adventure. Preceding him in death were his parents, Margaret and Theodore
Barber; his sister, Beverly; his first wife, Fern Barber; and three children,
David Barber, Robin Barber, and Dawn Barber. Curtis is survived by his second
wife, Pamela; his children, Joan Kirby (Michael), Theodore Barber (Melody),
Betsy Sprague (Jeff), Michelle Ericksen (Dave), Myrna Foster (Ben), William
Barber (Lucy), and Calvin Barber; his step-children, Ross Shurtliff (Donna),
Ranee Turnage (Don), Tami Quiring (Kenny), Carey Shurtliff; as well as 37
grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, February 20, 2021 at
11:00 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Hinckley Chapel,
1505 West Hinckley, Logandale, NV with a visitation from 9:30 to 10:30 am prior
to the services at the chapel. Interment
will follow in the Logandale Cemetery. A
live stream of the services will be available at the Curtis Barber Memorial
Facebook Group. Friends and family are
invited to sign our online guestbook at www.moapavalleymortuary.com
