He attended both Marshall and Smith-Cotton High School.
He was a veteran of WWII, serving as a flight officer and glider pilot with the 442nd troop carrier group. He was awarded the European, African, Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon with three stars, American Campaign ribbon, victory medal and a presidential citation.
At the end of the war, he and a fellow officer with their crew, went on a tour through several states putting on an air show with their gliders, selling victory bonds. He was given an honorable discharge on May 27, 1946. He worked at the Missouri Pacific shops and the highway department. He then moved his family to Erie, Pennsylvania where he worked eight years as a spray painter for General Electric. He returned to Sedalia in 1955.
He owned and operated Merchants Delivery and an electronic organ repair business. He worked as a television repair man for Cecil’s T.V. for 35 years.
He enjoyed building and flying model airplanes, deer hunting, traveling, camping and being with his family. He was of the Christian faith.
Also surviving include are a son, Bennie Barber Jr., of Russellville, MO; and a grandson, Terry Alan Barber. He was predeceased by a son, Danny W. Barber; three brothers, Byron Barber, Boyce Barber and Jay D. Barber; a sister, Zerelda Twilling; and a daughter-in-law, Dixie Lee Barber.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, August 28, 2008, at Heckart Funeral Home, with Chaplin Erich Kurz officiating
Pallbearers will be Fred Pfeiffer, Willard Woolery, Ernie Walker, Pete White, Tom Flores and Jack Speaker.
Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery.
The family will receive from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the American Cancer Society or to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2591.
The family’s guest register may be signed online at www.heckartfuneralhome.com.
Bennie Leonard Barber, 87, of Sedalia, died Monday, August 25, 2008, at Four Seasons Living Center.
He was born January 3, 1921, in Sedalia, a son of Blanchard and Hattie Mae King Barber. On September 9, 1942, in Sedalia, he married Anna Helen Maness, who survives of the home.
