He served as a gunner's mate on the battleship Montpelier in the South Pacific in WWII, and in 1946 returned home to the Yerba Buena Ranch (later known as Kino Springs), where his father was the foreman for the actor Stewart Granger.

 Dick worked at many well-known area ranches over the years including the Empire near Sonoita owned by the Boices, the 61 Ranch in Nogales owned by Tom Bell, and the Circle Z in Patagonia. After a stint with the State Highway Department, he returned to ranching, this time at the TM Ranch in Vail (now called the Flying V) where he worked for seven years.

 He and his brother Burke went to Mexico in 1957, where they hoped to make a killing growing cotton in the Altar Valley. A hard frost spoiled their dreams and after paying off their debts Barkley told friends, "I left Mexico on a fast horse (after) that experience."

 In 1958 he was named foreman of Willow Springs Ranch near Oracle, at that time one of the largest ranches in the state. During his sixteen years there he converted the business from several breeds to a straight Brangus operation. He also helped the owner, M.O. Simpson, raise quality pinto horses, traveling all over the U. S. showing the breed. Both of their studs won Grand Champion at the Nationals.

 In 1974 Barkley and his second wife bought a cattle ranch near Portal where they raised four children. At the same time he was selling ranches and other real estate to supplement his income. By 1980 he was divorced and had moved to Sonoita where he opened a real estate office.

 In 1987, he married Barbara Louise Randolph, manager of the Stage Stop Inn in Patagonia; she was organizing a large New Year's Eve party and she and Dick decided to surprise everyone by getting married just before midnight. According to Barkley's biography in the Arizona Pioneer Stockman's Ranch History, he said "The music stopped and (when) it was announced that we were getting married, I (was in) the bathroom. My wife found herself standing alone with the preacher on the bandstand. Sam Fraizer hollered out, 'Barbara, I think I just saw him barreling down the road in his pickup'."

 Dick and Barbara built a new home in Sonoita and established the Sonoita Realty which they operated for 16 years before selling the business to their daughter Kathy Maly in 2003.

Edited from obituary written by Betty Barr

Click below to return to:
History
A-D
E-H
I-P
Q-Z

SCS 9/27/24