Person:Howard Barber (3)

DEATH: Published Sunday, June 5, 2005

DEATH: Howard Barber, 81, Carpenter

DEATH: By Matthew Pleasant The Ledger

DEATH: DAVENPORT -- Mr. Howard E. Barber of Davenport, who died of heart failure Friday (June 3, 2005), worked as a carpenter and fireman. He was 81.

DEATH: Born Nov. 30, 1923, in Scituate, R.I., he came here from Killingly, Conn., in 1979.

DEATH: After moving to Florida and leaving his fireman job in Killingly, Mr. Barber worked as a carpenter.

DEATH: "He was a hard worker, an honest man," said his friend and caregiver, Opal A. Hoce of Davenport. He lived on her property in a mobile home.

DEATH: Mr. Barber liked talking and smoking his pipe.

DEATH: "He would talk about fishing with his father," who was a commercial fisherman in Rhode Island, Hoce said. "He talked about his grandmother, who loved flowers."

DEATH: Mr. Barber's front porch was covered with flowers he grew and others Hoce bought for him.

DEATH: "When one got big enough he would pinch some off and grow another pot," Hoce remembers.

DEATH: Hoce's property is near a cow pasture, where Mr. Barber enjoyed watching the animals.

DEATH: "We had the enjoyment of watching the calves grow," Hoce said. "He'd let me know when there was a new calf."

DEATH: He was a lifetime member of the Killingly Fire Department.

DEATH: Mr. Barber was preceded in death by his wife, Lillian Steere. He is survived by his sons, Howard E. Barber Jr. and Donald Barber, both of Dayville, Conn., John Pepler, West New York, N.J.; daughter, LuAnn David, Putnam, Conn., Sandra May, East Killingly, Conn.; brother, George A. Barber, Mapleville, R.I.; sister, Louise Charpentier, Chepachep, R.I.; 11 grandchildren; and 11 greatgrandchildren.

DEATH: Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday at Oak Ridge Funeral Care, Haines City. Services will follow at 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

DEATH: Oak Ridge Funeral Care, Haines City.