Robert A. Barker

Robert Alan Barker, 94, passed away on Thursday, June 4, 2026.

He was born in Syracuse on October 17, 1931. His parents, Donald and Mary Barker, lived in Camden, a village just north of Oneida Lake, where his father was the school superintendent. Robert graduated from the Camden Central School in 1949 and then entered Syracuse University. Upon graduation, he was commissioned in the Air Force and married Ellen Winn. The couple spent two years living in Mechra Bell Kisiri, Morocco where Robert was stationed at an early warning radar site.

After Robert's discharge, the couple lived in Syracuse for three years, where Robert attended law school. While there, two of the couple's three sons were born, the third being born in Albany. Those sons, Chris (Janet), Tom (Bridget) and Bruce (Carolyn) gave their parents nine grandchildren who among them gave them twelve great-grandchildren, with more on the way.

After graduating from law school, Robert took a post at the Department of Justice in Washington, and the family lived in Arlington, Va. Later, he joined the staff at the Appellate Division Third Department in Albany, and after seven years at that post, he went to the faculty at Albany Law School where he served for 33 years. During that time, the family lived in Delmar.

During his tenure at the law school, Robert took a post as Director of the New York State Law Revision Commission, a unit that had previously been located at Cornell Law School and was charged with researching and developing new laws and amendments to existing laws where needed. After seven years, he relinquished that post to become Associate Dean at the law school where he served during the 1980s. Robert retired from the law school in 2000 but continued to teach several courses for a few years on a contract basis.

After 68 years of marriage, Ellen predeceased Robert in 2021. During those years, the couple enjoyed raising their children, their cottage at Friends Lake in the Adirondacks and traveling abroad to Alaska and Hawaii.

Services will be held on Friday, August 7, at 11 a.m. at Gerald B.H. Solomon, Saratoga National Cemetery, 200 Duell Rd., Schuylerville, N.Y. 12871.