March 8, 1971
Father Forrest Barker
Father Barker was born in Maud, Okla., on November 8, 1909 but his family later moved to Dodge City, where they converted to Catholicism. He attended Sacred Heart School and Dodge City High School in Dodge City,; St. Joseph Academy, Hays, KS; St. Thomas Seminary, Denver, Colo; and Kenrick Seminary, St. Louis, Mo. When Bishop Schwertner ordained him at St. Mary’s Cathedral on June 6, 1936, he was the first vocation to the priesthood from the sixty-year-old parish in Dodge City. As pastor he served in Galena with Baxter Springs and Columbus as missions; Cunningham with Zenda and Turon as missions; Caldwell with Perth as a mission; and McPherson. His last pastoral assignment from 1955 to 1971 was to St. Peter Parish in Schulte. Father Barker was a member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission and the Diocesan Priests’ Council. Soon after receiving the Last Rites from Msgr. Denis Dougherty on March 8, 1971 he died on the way to the hospital. Most Reverend Marion Forst, Bishop of Dodge City, and the priests of the Diocese of Wichita joined Bishop Maloney in celebrating his funeral at Schulte. Father Barker’s interment was in Resurrection Cemetery in Wichita.