Rose Marie C. Barker

Rose Marie Barker (nee Garske) passed away on May 8, 2018 in Stayton, Oregon. She was 91. Rose was born in San Francisco, CA on May 27, 1926 to Leo and Sophie Garske, the sixth of their twelve children. She grew up in Washington, Oregon, and California. She attended Cadet Nurse’s Training in Washington and California, and became a registered nurse, working as a surgical assistant and later as a physician’s assistant in a family medicine practice in Santa Cruz, California. In 1951, she married Richard Louis (Dick) Barker in Capitola, California, with whom she raised their eight children. After Dick retired in 1980, they moved to Whidbey Island, Washington, where they lived until Dick passed away in 1992. Rose stayed on Whidbey Island until 1999, then moved in with her youngest daughter and her family in Soquel, and later to Templeton, and Palo Cedro, California. She moved to assisted living in 2016 in Stayton, Oregon, near the home of her eldest daughter, where she lived the last two years of her life. Rose is survived by her sister Virginia, brothers Tom and Peter, eight children, fourteen grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and numerous friends. She will be remembered as a strong role model, a loving mother, compassionate caregiver, and a devout Catholic woman with solid values and a generous heart. Her love will remain in our hearts forever.