
Classmate Suzi Schor learned of the passing of classmate Mike Barnes and provided a link to the following obituary:
Rochester, NY: Passed unexpectedly on August 23, 2022.
Michael was born in Skokie, IL. He is survived by his children Barbara (Arland) Brokaw and Michael Barnes (Keegan Lynch); Grandchildren Stephen (Willow) Johnston, Matthew Leonard, Jared Brokaw, and Tav Brokaw; Siblings Jeffrey Barnes, Christopher (Linda) Barnes, and Jennifer Pack and 6 beautiful nieces.
Michael served in the Air Force 4/5/66-5/24/7. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northwestern University. As part of Motorola’s Applied Research & Development Department, he worked to develop cellular phone technology.
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Debra Ancheta (Canedy)
Mike was my first high school boyfriend and my first kiss. Our lives were mirrors of each other in the musicals we both participated in, our later work lives at Motorola, and our class reunions that brought back all those memories. He had a wonderful voice and he was a genuinely nice person. I will truly miss him.
Ruth Gross
Mike's passing is a real shock. I knew him from elementary at Lincoln to Nichols to High School. What a sweet guy he was and how beautiful his voice! His rosy cheeks are totally memorable. I was happy to have seen him at a couple of the reunions. He was just an all round nice person. This one is hard.
Charles Whitcomb
I am extremely saddened by Mike's death.We have communicated off and on for years hoping to meet up and talk about our lives but sadly it never happened. We became friends during the production of Carousel and after high school we met up only once at one of the reunions.
Mike was a bright and fun guy to be around and he will be missed.
Nancy Schroeder
So sorry to hear about Mikes passing. I knew him well at Lincoln School. I didn't go to Nichols so did meet up again with him at ETHS. He did have a great voice. Sorry to see another friend pass. We are all getting older and drifting away RIP Mike and my condolences to his family.
Vernon Neece
So sad to learn of Mike's passing. I think there is a picture of hin in 1 of his musical performances in 1 of our yearbooks.
Paula Massey
I remember Mike from my costume crew experiences with the musicals. So sorry to hear about his passing.
Jeffrey M Liebman
When I moved to Evanston at the beginning of freshman year, it just so happened that Mike and his younger siblings resided in the same apartment building on Judson avenue, one floor above me. Mike was the first classmate to reach out to me, helping me to integrate into a huge new social environment and feel less intimidated. Typically we would be at the same lunch table with Fred Brostoff, Rick Reitze, Marty Campbell, Barry Bedrick, and others. Mike was always cheerful and a fountain of conversation about a wide variety of topics. Later on, it was always a pleasure to meet up with him at reunions. Now he is gone, and our ranks continue to diminish
William Wanlund
Like everyone, very sorry to hear of his passing. A good, cheerful, and talented guy
Phil Noble
Gonna miss Mike - during the build up to our class of '64's first reunion and the fab website, we got in touch and had some good talks reminiscing on the many musicals we both sang in. Those were some of the best times ever and we had some good laughs. As has been mentioned, he was smart, cheerful and sang the sox off the rest of us! RIP, Mike.
Robert Lindner
Once Upon A Carousel
When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark,
At the end of the storm there's a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind.
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone.
You'll never walk alone
You'll Never Walk Alone
From Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel
He’s gone, there’s no more song,
But our carousel keeps turning along
With golden memories
Of his voice that would please
Our young ears. But now he’s
Gone. And all the songs he once sang seem wrong
Without his voice to sing.
But his passing beyond the storm will bring
Back songs that he sang to
Us, in times, we went through
Together. Just a few
Years ago (maybe more), we were doing
Our thing, and sweet Michael
Could be Billy, singing in Carousel.
But earth turned and the storm
We all expect, did form,
As storms do on the warm
Winds that blow, as the musical will tell
Us in our memory
And when the storm comes as it must, we
Will hold our heads up high
To watch the lark fly by
When there’s the golden sky
At the end of the storm, where Mike will be,
Arm outstretched and showing
Us, he’s there in the rain, with wind blowing
Through the dreams that we find,
When we are so inclined,
In pictures in our mind,
In memories that like us are slowing
Down. But people we’ve known
And liked will come back and I hear the tone
Of the Carousel theme
As I ride on a moonbeam
And a world I still dream
Of, sings like Mike, “You'll never walk alone.”