William “Bill” E. Barkley Jr. born April 3, 1939 in Massena NY. passed away peacefully at Providence Holy Family Hospital surrounded by his loving family on August 30, 2017.

Bill joined the U.S. Marine Corps at 18 and was in the reserves for 2 years. He worked for the United States Postal Service for 30 years and received a distinguished award for his dedicated attendance by never missing a day of work. He loved all sports, especially the home team, Gonzaga Bulldogs. In honor of the “final four” he celebrated his 78th birthday with a special Gonzaga themed birthday party.

Bill and Kaye recently celebrated their 54th Wedding anniversary and had the honor of being the longest married couple at their Grandsons recent wedding. Together they raised 8 children and spent numerous and countless days attending basketball, wrestling and his favorite sport Baseball, where you could always find Bill rooting on his boys from center field. From answering the house phone as “Bill’s Pool Hall” to putting a “For Sale” sign up as a joke at a graduation party, or using every color of duct tape to literally fix everything, his quiet sense of humor always entertained us.

He is preceded in death by his parents William Barkley Sr. and Teresa Marie Barkley and his brother Robert Barkley. He is survived by his loving and caring wife of 54 years Kaye Barkley, his 8 children, 9 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. Children Patrick (Aggie) Henry of Minnesota, Michael Henry of California, Rick (Cheryl) Henry of Spokane, Cindy Barkley of Spokane, Chris (Tami) Henry of Spokane, Randall (Diane) Barkley of Spokane, Lisa (Scott) Schlenker of Outlook, and Scott (Cyndi) Barkley of Spokane Valley. Grandchildren Haley, Shawn, Jillian, Kyle, Kate, Megan, Chris, Emily, and Cameron. Great Grandchildren Dylan, Ashlyn, Easton, Jace and Sadie, his sister Patricia Jacobs, brother-in-law Jim (Barb) Moos and his special dog companion Chloe, who loved her daily walks around the block every morning with Grandpa.

Grandpa Bill impacted all of our lives with his sweet smile, calm and quiet sense of humor, and knowledge on just about everything. There are holes in our heart that only Grandpa Bill’s duct tape could patch.

We could always count on him giving us a sugar free hard candy, that he carried with him in his pockets daily. Like those candies, he will remain with us forever in our pockets, giving us something sweet to hold onto in his memory.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, September 5th at Hennessy Funeral Home, 2203 N Division at 3:00 p.m.  A reception will be held immediately following the services and for those who would like to come and share special memories, please join us at Grandpa Bill’s house.

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