Photos from the Memorial Service and Repast
Obituary – published in the Carroll County Times, December 1, 2019
Denise J. Barker died November 9 of leukemia. She was 77. Born Denise McHale, she was a native of the Bronx, NY, and graduated from Hunter College in New York City. She moved to Maryland in 1970 with her then-husband, John, and raised her daughters in Westminster, where they were parishioners at St John Catholic Church.
Denise was a social activist. When their children were toddlers, Denise and her neighbor, Judith Raffel, petitioned Westminster City government to open and maintain bathrooms at the city playground. In the 1980s, Denise began her lifelong friendship with Sandra Wright when she helped to organize the Carroll County chapter of Bread for the World. Denise really solidified her reputation as the lead organizer behind a years-long effort to ensure that pregnant women who were Medicaid recipients could choose to deliver their babies at Carroll County General Hospital, instead of routinely being sent to Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
Denise wrote Youth Profiles in the early ‘90s for the Carroll County Times. She worked for the Carroll County Public Library system and she wrote book reviews for the Times, encouraging people to come to the library to check out good books. She was often a liberal voice in the Letters to the Editor.
In 2000, Denise left Westminster for Baltimore County and a job with Towson University, where she worked at Cook Library until her retirement in 2007. She then moved with her daughter to Montgomery County where she and her grandson enjoyed public playgrounds, nature centers, and swimming pools together. Denise became an active member of Mill Creek Parish United Methodist Church, and she found that she enjoyed working with preschool children. She volunteered in many capacities, using her writing skills and her animated, dynamic personality to enlighten adults and entertain children.
In a letter to the editor of the Carroll County Times dated September 4, 1984, on the occasion of her friend Alice Coleman’s passing, Denise wrote, “She was an intelligent and courageous ally in a good cause and a wise and kind friend. She lived simply and believed strongly in a humane, just and peaceful world and she did more than her share to bring about such a world. She will be greatly missed.” The same can be said of Denise Barker.
She is survived by two daughters, Maria (Jacques) and Beth, and a grandson, A.J.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Mill Creek Parish’s Community Missions Memorial Fund or to the campaign of the Democratic candidate of your choice.