Huntington reporter succumbs to cancer

Tony Dodero

Robert “Bob� Barker, a veteran Orange County newsman who covered

Huntington Beach for more than two decades, died Nov. 18 after a long

battle with brain cancer. He was 73.

Barker began his journalism career as a sportswriter in 1957 at

the Garden Grove Evening News, later doing stints at a number of

newspapers as a copy editor, managing editor and news reporter

covering county and city government, mostly in Huntington Beach.

He and his wife, Barbara, who he met on a blind date in 1959,

lived in the same home in Garden Grove for more than 40 years, where

they raised their two sons, Corey, 47, and Scott, 42.

“He was a tremendous example for me and my brother,� Scott Barker

said. “He was a great father and great husband. He was really loving,

kind and gentle and selfless. He was really a hard worker, too. He

made everything fun, and he loved pranks.�

Bob Barker was known around Huntington Beach City Hall as much for

his hard-nosed, muckraking-style exposes as he was for his

softhearted features.

Former Councilman and Mayor Ralph Bauer said some of the best

discussions he had with Bob Barker were regarding the fight over the

Bolsa Chica wetlands. He said Bob Barker always reported the Bolsa

Chica story fairly, even when much of the public viewed

environmentalists as just longhaired 1960’s hippies.

“I thought he was as classy a reporter as I ever encountered,�

Bauer said. “He was fair, he asked good questions and he always wrote

a fair and balanced article, I thought. He was just a classy guy and

I’d like to say he became my friend as the years went by.�

Huntington Beach City Councilman Dave Sullivan said Bob Barker was

simply the best reporter he ever met.

“He was outstanding,� said Sullivan, who later played softball

with him after he retired from reporting.

William Lobdell, Bob Barker’s former editor at the Daily Pilot and

Huntington Beach Independent and now a staff writer at The Los

Angeles Times, agreed with Sullivan.

“Along with being a great man, he was simply the best journalist

I’ve known,� Lobdell said. “He was both aggressive and kind. He cared

about his beat, his sources and his craft. He had passion for his

work, but always left enough time for his family. I idolized him.�

Former Daily Pilot and Independent Managing Editor Steve Marble,

who worked with Barker as a reporter and an editor, agreed with that

sentiment.

“Bob was an absolute delight, a great newsman, a dear friend and a

wonderful human being,� said Marble, now the city editor of the

Times’ Orange County Edition. “I can’t even begin to calculate how

much I learned from him, and how much I valued his company.�

Barker was born in 1931 in Redlands and grew up on a farm in the

Riverside County town of Calimesa, where his family raised turkeys

and grew grapes, tomatoes, peaches and grains.

He attended San Bernardino Valley College from 1949 until 1951, when he joined the Navy. After he left the Navy in 1955 he attended San Jose State, where he graduated in 1957 with a journalism degree.

He worked as sportswriter at the Evening News for a number of

years and rose to the ranks of managing editor. He left that paper in

the late 1960’s for a brief stint at the Independent Press Telegram

in Long Beach. He ended up at the Daily Pilot in 1970 as a copy

editor, then moved back to the reporting ranks in the late 1970s,

mostly covering Huntington Beach.

He remained on the writing staff of the Daily Pilot and the

Huntington Beach Independent until 1992. He left to be a

correspondent for The Los Angeles Times Orange County Edition.

He worked at The Times for about two years before returning to the

Independent as a part-time writer. In 1997, he retired from

journalism for good.

After his retirement, he spent most of his time traveling with

Barbara, playing with his grandson and playing softball in a league

for those 65 and older. His batting average was .720, and one year

his team won the equivalent of the World Series in softball for that

age group.

Bob Barker especially loved gardening and sports, namely the USC

Trojans and his beloved Dodgers. He attended the Dodgers’ first game

at the Memorial Coliseum, when they first arrived in Los Angeles in

1958.

He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Barbara, sons Scott and

Corey, brothers Jack and Dean, sister Lora Ward and grandson Trevor.

Services were held 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Waverly Church at 1700

Fairhaven Ave. in Santa Ana.

Donations can be made to Barker’s hospice provider, Vitas

Healthcare, 220 Commerce, Suite 100, Irvine, 92602.