William F. Barstow died peacefully on Wednesday, September 5, 2018. He was 81. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease. Though he spent his career in the machine tool business, Bill loved music and was a lifelong devotee of choral singing. He sang in the Cornell Glee Club and was a member of the Vocal Majority barbershop chorus from 1974-1989, which won five SPEBSQSA gold medals during that period. He was the VM’s president in 1984. Bill also served two terms as Board President of the Dallas new music ensemble Voices of Change, and was its treasurer for a decade. An enthusiastic golfer, Bill volunteered at Texas’ Byron Nelson Golf Classic for a record 42 years. As a teenager, he was a charter subscriber to Sports Illustrated. He became an avid participant in Fantasy Football, Basketball, and Baseball leagues. William Forrester Barstow was born in Philadelphia on September 3, 1937. His parents moved frequently throughout the midwest, eventually settling in suburban Cleveland. Upon graduation from Rocky River High School, Bill attended Cornell University, studying industrial and mechanical engineering. He completed his education at University of Houston, earning a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 1962. He married Olivia Howe of Houston in 1962. They had two children. The marriage ended in divorce in 1985. After working for Warner and Swasey in Cleveland, Chicago, and Indianapolis, Bill moved to Dallas in 1969 to accept a position with Wessendorf Nelms. He founded W.F. Barstow Machinery in 1974. In the mid-1990s his focus shifted to quality control, and he established a successor venture, ProQual Resources. He retired in 2015. Bill married author and program annotator Laurie Shulman in 1987. They lived in Dallas until 2015, when they moved to Charlottesville. He will be remembered for his intelligence, kindness, humor, and big heart. Memorial services in Virginia and Texas will be held at later dates. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Charlottesville Symphony Society or Hospice of the Piedmont, www.hopva.org. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Laurie Shulman of Keswick; his sister, Elizabeth Calhoon of St. Paul, Minn.; his son, William F. Barstow Jr. of West Orange, Texas; his daughter, Amy B. Wright of Fort Worth, Texas, and four grandchildren.
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