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I first met Ken, "Mr. B" when I was 11 years old, I'm now 65 but always think of him on the 11th June.
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Ahhhh, that cheeky sense of humour and mischievous twinkle in the eye. This photo captured it perfectly. What a glorious time you gave us all! 
 I’m missing you everyday and I’m equally grateful to you everyday. Thanks for always being my fun uncle and loving “older brother.”❤️❤️
Remembering so many years of wonderful memories. Your impact on so many is remembered today as well as  throughout the year - whenever any of us are in contact with each other. 

How can it be five years since Beloved Uncle Ken passed away. I remember BUK , everyday when I look at his oil painting of St. Ignatius Church on the wall above my TV. 

BUK influence me in many ways, in appreciation of the arts and especially humor. We had such fun together. He would make up stuff and I would laugh.

When Kenny and I went to Europe in ‘78 he made up Barbara e Sandra. Barbara was “tres Chic “and wore  “a  Jacketta Mao”.

Recently, I heard my grown up son ask his girlfriend to retrieve his”Jacketta Mao” from the car. BUK lives on !

Love to all

Uncle Ken, I am remembering you with extra special love today, which would have been your 88th birthday. I miss you everyday, but with the passing of my mom this year I find comfort in knowing the Barbieri  Family is all together again.  Happy Birthday!!💙
I loved our Riordan Spring Musical play Director… Mr Kenneth Barbiari. In mid 60s, we participated in a lively Musical, “My Fair Lady”. During one of our performances, Mr Barbiari got so enthused backstage with our “Party Scene” singing “Oom-Pa-Pa”, that without notice… he joined our Party onstage! When curtain was drawn, he was happy - huffing & puffing, saying, “I was unaware how energetic you folks were in this scene!”
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Ken was such a huge part of my early life and likewise in recent years before his passing. Always loved by so many of us and remembered by each of us ever so fondly with so many wonderful memories!

It is time to listen to one of our shows!! Hard to believe I have four of them on my phone! Never could have imagined that in the mid 60’s!!

I sewed the costumes for Mr. B’s plays in the late 60”s. I went to Mercy HS and SF City college.

He taught me how to work with a very talented man who was busy with many activities. 

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Ken was such a huge part of my early life and likewise in recent years before his passing. 

He is always remembered by each of us ever so fondly with so many wonderful memories!

It is time to listen to one of our shows!! Hard to believe I have four of them on my phone! Never could have imagined that technology in the 60’s!!

Mr. B’s spirit lives on in all of us!!

Besides him teaching Riordan High School Freshmen Geography, I successfully auditioned to take part in all 4 Riordan Spring Musicals: Bye Bye, Birdie / My Fair Lady / Oliver / South Pacific / 1964 thru 1967. He was an excellent Play Director & even joined in with the Cast on occasions.
In response to "How did you first meet Kenneth?"
Happy Birthday - I remember h…
1977, San Francisco, CA, USA
Happy Birthday - I remember how in every show he seemed to reference June 11. — with Carousel program
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SIXTY years for me and so many memories are still as vivid and fresh as though they were yesterday. Remembering MR B as we all respectfully and lovingly called him gives a deep meaning to the word SPECIAL! Truly gifted on so many levels, he is deeply missed and I think of him so frequently…like show people - the production never stops in memory!💕 it’s there to see over and over - his lasting gift to us! 💕 

So thankful for Sue McQuirk for “finding” me and putting Ken back in my life for his last six or so years…truly so SPECIAL, words cannot describe…

And my heart is constantly warmed seeing the Oliver Ice Bucket - with tongs - and book  on my display shelf every day - thank you Chris Peeples for procuring it back in 1966 and to Eric Halsing for passing it on to me in Ken’s memory at his memorial. Forever cherished!❤️ 

SHOW TIME IN HEAVEN -  I think we’ll have a larger theatre so tickets should not be an issue. More room for makeup, costumes and upgraded lighting! Stage crew will have an unlimited budget! Will check if cast parties will be allowed! 

Memories pressed between the pages of our lives💕

It's been two years today and I stil miss you every single day. Holidays and Sundays are just not the same without you. I miss your sense of humor, your love, your advice and your insight into making decisions.  I hope you hear my conversations with you. 

What fun we all had with dearest Mr. Barbieri and how sorry I was to hear he has left us.

"Oliver!", "QUACK!", "West Side Story" at Riordan.  I was cast as Maria and remember struggling when rehearsing "I Feel Pretty", telling him I should have been cast as Anita. I felt "silly, oh so silly". I remember Ken taking me e aside and telling me "Your challenge is you are more like Maria than you'd like to admit."  He was right, of course.  I was a square little ingenue, masquerading in false eyelashes and a black leather jacket.  He was excellent at casting - seeing the potential beneath the surface.  The girl who played Anita was wonderful.  

In around 1976  we resurrected "QUACK"  in a mortuary somewhere in the Mission District (!?!) Ken had reinterpreted Moliere's "The Doctor In Spite of Himself" with music by Cole Porter and the chorus were all dressed as clowns.  There was a big pie-in-the-face finale with whip cream pies being thrown at one another by the ensemble as we all sang "Be a Clown".

And of course there was an unforgettable production of "Candide" in the theater up at USF.  Positively stellar cast with Ken as Dr. Pangloss and Bernstein's astonishing complex score performed on a snare drum, piano and kazoo, as I recall, as we didn't have a budget for a full orchestra.

Ken was wonderful in the show! It was the only time I'd seen him tread the boards. 

I loved and admired that man - so talented, such a wicked sense of mischief and wonderful wit. 

He set me on a course that has brought me such joy, working with a British professional company in Hong Kong in the early '80's and then running my own small theater company here after that. 

 I used to see him every time I came back to the Bay Area for a family visit.  On one trip we went together to watch a production of "Greater Tuna" downtown so that we could talk with the actors backstage and learn how the costumes were rigged for quick-change.  I was in a production of the show in Hong Kong and who else would I want to go to investigate props and costumes with rather than Ken??? 

Apologies for taking up so much space here. I am overwhelmed with happy memories.  

 How fortunate we all were to have had him to guide us during our "salad days". 

 Belated condolences sent to his family.  Thank you for sharing him with us.

I cannot imagine high school without Mr. B. My high school memories center around the Riordan plays - we were all part of something grand and special, working hard to meet his high expectations, and feeling so proud and happy when we did. He helped us develop discipline, confidence and creativity. He took a chance on me as a freshman and gave me the part of Ado Annie in Oklahoma. I remember him getting frustrated with me in rehearsal (for good reason), but after closing night when the curtain came down the last time, he came up to me and he said "I knew you'd be great." That meant so much to me. Mr. B. put his heart and soul into the productions and into all of us. Thank you Mr. B!
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I am sad to hear that Mr. B. Passed away. He opened my eyes to enjoy the arts especially theatre. I was in four productions; West Side Story, Oklahoma, The Teahouse of the August Moon (Mr. Oshira), and Man of La Mancha, he was an expert at makeup. He did my makeup on my face and fixed my hair so well that the audience wanted to know if I was a student or an old man and wanted to take a picture of me when I acknowledged that I was a student. I didn’t keep in touch, but I will truly miss him. Paul (Class of ‘76)
In response to "What always reminds you of Kenneth?"
I put these comments into the Chron site. Thought I would copy them here as well.
April 15, 2020
Chris Peeples - Riordan 1966

One memory came to me. At the end of every play, we would give Mr. B. a gift. For one play (I forget which one) we got him a very nice wooden ice bucket. I was assigned to get it engraved and I went to Shreve (I think that is where we got the ice bucket). The nice sales person said there was not time to do the engraving. When I explained where I was from and why we needed the engraving done by closing day, she gave me the name of Shreve's engraver. I went, and got the engraving done overnight for about half the cost that Shreve was going to charge. At the time, I thought it was retail markup. As I think about it now, it may have been that, but it may have been catholic school discount. San Francisco was a very different place in the 1960s.

Chris Peeples
April 15, 2020
Chris Peeples - Riordan 1966

Rest In Peace. I was in every play during my four years at Riordan, mostly as an actor, but twice on the stage crew. Mr. B. was a great director, coach and leader. He got the best from the young men and woman he directed. (One of the great things about drama was that it was the one part of Riordan that was co-ed in my day.)

-- Chris Peeples --

=====================================
H. E. Christian (Chris) Peeples
4037 Howe Street
Oakland, California 94611-5211
(c) 510-851-0968
chris_peeples@yahoo.com
=====================================
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I smile every time I think of our fun times. Sitting in the class room and trying not to laugh at absurd tales of history.

Sitting upstairs in the theatre rehearing lines, getting ready for a pending performance. All the while Ken was controlling the entire theatre and all aspects of the house, from stage crew, costume, actors, orchestra, lighting, ticket sales, and on and on.

He was able to make the very difficult look easy and seamless. I have taken his inventiveness with me throughout a career, a family and memories of simpler times. I only wish that my children would have been blessed enough to meet Ken and experience the ever lasting exuberance that he had toward humanity.

I miss and remember him. I know that "he is watching me!" and then I smile.
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“And he, (Gomez No!) owned a Buick!”
I used to ride around with my Uncle Ken in his beautiful blue Buick Riviera, that had a little brass label with his name on it since it was customized especially for him . We used to listen to classical music and he would drive to the music on the radio. We had so much fun together. We had a lot of running jokes. We laughed a lot together.
Jeanne Miche-Feldman
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