PP Robert Barski
Feb 11, 1938 - May 10, 2006  

 

In Memory of an Old Soul
 
It has been said that when one Soul departs this life, another takes its place. Sometime in the early morning of May 10, 2006, the soul of our beloved Past President Robert J. Barski, took flight to that better life he knew would one day claim him.
 
Bob Barski was a native of Richmond and was well known and well thought of in our Community particularly through his Vocation as a Pharmacist and later as a Pioneer in the Neighborhood Pub business.
 
In 1987 he joined Rotary and served as our Club's President from 1996-1997.
 
He took Rotary very seriously and was a humanitarian and philanthropist in his own quiet and inimitable way. He was usually one of the first to support every humanitarian project that the Club was involved in and he did so very quietly and without any fanfare.
 
He was the quiet mover and shaker behind our age old Gentlemen's Dinner, now our Fellowship Dinner, and in more recent years the Annual Golf Tournament.
 
Bob had a heart of Gold and would do anything for you if it was in his power to do so or failing that he would point you in the right direction.
Personally I have never met a kinder, gentler human being than Bob.
 
He loved a party and when he gave one he did it with class and style. His forty-year celebration as a Pharmacist in Richmond was a classic example - Hop on his private Bus in Richmond, head down to the Bayshore sail out onto the water for a moonlight dinner and cruise and dancing the night away, then back to Richmond wondering "What the hell just happened?" Whatever it was though, you can be sure that it was very was memorable and thoroughly enjoyable. His weddings were also something else.
 
In his later years, which should have been the prelude to his golden years, his health began to take a toll on him. Did he fuss, did he complain? Of course not. Bob took everything in his stride and with his usual quiet and calm demeanor (I have never seen this guy lose his cool or raise his voice - has any one?) he suffered in silence, told you he would be all right and with whatever little strength he had left and an abundance of courage and fortitude, he has now passed on to that ethereal Pharmacy in the sky and he has done so with a great deal of dignity.
 
Farewell 'Roberto' - Thank you for sharing your life with us and allowing us to learn so much about life from you, and for helping us all to make this world a better place than we found it.

 

by PP Wilbur Walrond