Col. William E. Barber

Col. William E. Barber passed away at approximately 4:15 AM on December 18, 2020. He was one day short of 104 years old. He had a long and remarkable life. Col. Barber was born on December 20, 1916 in rural Louisiana near Monroe. He was raised by his grandmother and joined the United States Army Air Force as an enlisted man just prior to World War II. He was chosen to attend flight training school and graduated as an officer and a pilot. At the time, he was one of many ‘Mustangs,’ of which few remain. He spent most of WWII as a bomber pilot in the Pacific. After the Army Air Force became the United States Air Force, he served in the Korean War. He retired in 1963 as a Colonel and a Command Pilot. During his lifetime, he saw so many technological advances. He went from life with no running water to a computer by his bedside. He will be deeply missed by all that knew him. He is predeceased in death by his wife Gilda Meaut Barber and son Jim Ruckel. He is survived by sons Chuck Ruckel and Greg Ruckel, niece Lynn Meaut O’Keefe, five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. Services will be private. Interment will be at Biloxi National Cemetery. Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home is honored to serve the Barber family.