Charles Oliver Barker

Charles Oliver Barker MD, MPH, MTS was born in Waycross, GA on Oct. 7, 1945 to Gilbert Harrison Barker and Lucy Jay Baker Barker. He grew up in Valdosta, GA and graduated from Valdosta High School and Emory University. He received his graduate education and training at Emory University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and Southern Methodist University Perkins School of Theology. He obtained board certifications in both Family Medicine and Aerospace Medicine, spending fifteen years in private practice and twenty years in Navy Medicine. In 2010 he affirmed the Charter for Compassion and founded Compassionate Dallas/Fort Worth, a non-profit organization that promotes the Charter for Compassion, the value of compassion and compassionate action in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex with the Golden Rule as its core operating principle. He served as Chair of the Board of Trustees, and on the Governance Committee of the international Charter for Compassion. Dr. Barker's primary interest was in compassion cultivation education and training. He was a certified facilitator of Compassion Integrity Training and facilitated medical school ethics sessions at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, collaborating with faculty on studying the effectiveness of compassion cultivation training and education of medical students. He is the author of a book centered on being and becoming excellent, a series of reflections. He was a member of St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas where he served as an elder and Chair of the Outreach Committee. He is survived by his wife Conoly, children Emma and Sean McDonald, Tom and Shannon Barker, Lucy and Shane Durbin, grandchildren Joshua McDonald, Kyle and Manda Casimir, Aidan Casimir, Benny Durbin, Finna Barker, and Leo Barker. 'Adoptive' grandchildren are Ahmet Tas, Ebru and Jumaly Dzhumayev and great-grandson Alper Ali. The family is requesting donations be made to the Charter for Compassion's Barker-Campbell Endowment Fund (https://charterforcompassion.org/endowment) or to St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church, memo Outreach Committee, 1220 W. Belt Line Rd, Richardson, TX 75080.

Charles Oliver Barker

October 7, 1945 - June 8, 2023