Michael David Barker
BARKER, NORTON, FRAME, ZDULSKI, MOORE, FRAZIER, BORWIG, REED, WELLER
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 3/5/2018 at 14:53:34
Michael David Barker, 68, of Iowa City passed away peacefully Saturday, March 3, 2018 at his home surrounded by family and friends.
A gathering for family and friends to celebrate Mike’s life will be from 4-7 pm on Wednesday, March 7th, 2018 at Lensing Funeral Home, 605 Kirkwood Avenue in Iowa City. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Iowa City Hospice or to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Michael was born on November 28, 1949 in Maryville, Missouri to Alvin and Mary Lou (Norton) Barker. They told him he made them miss the end of the movie, Wake of the Red Witch. Years later, he bought them the DVD.
Mike had many jobs and hobbies. He loved baseball and softball. He started refereeing those games in 1969 and eventually added basketball and football games before retiring in 1999. He worked hard to get his EMT License and was employed by Capital City Ambulance in Des Moines and then Old Capital Ambulance in Iowa City.
Mike married Pam Frame in 1969 and they had two children, David and Andy. They divorced later in 1980.
Mike was tough. He was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on July 8, 1988 and went through 9 months of chemotherapy. He was in remission just long enough to marry Joyce Zdulski on August 26, 1989. By September 11, 1989, he had relapsed and was at the UIHC for a bone marrow transplant. He did the unthinkable and went back to the work in the field he loved at the UIHC.
Mike’s challenging diagnosis and treatment brought many more medical events: kidney transplants, diabetes, heart attacks, colon cancer, congestive heart failure and a stroke here and there. He continued to fight back and return to work until retiring in 2007, after 22 years of service as a Nursing Assistant and later as an EKG Technician.
The last straw for his tired body after winning the battle with Influenza A, RSV and Pneumonia was only to have the cancer return and his kidney to fail.
Survivors include his wife Joyce; his parents Alvin and Mary Lou; children: David Barker, Andy (Christina Moore) Barker, his 4 grandchildren he was so proud of: Kelsey (Jeremy) Frazier, Trent Barker, Sydney Moore and Levi Barker; a brother Randy (Bobbi) Barker, and sister Cindy (Doug) Borwig.
Mike was preceded in death by both of his grandparents Lacey and Helen (Reed) Barker and Arvil and Belle (Weller) Norton.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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