IN MEMORIAM: Robert J. Barton, 88;

Farmer Helped Form Milk Cooperative

SCHENEVUS – Robert J. Barton, 88, a dairy farmer and one of the organizers of the Schenevus-Elk Creek Milk Producers Cooperative in the 1980s, passed away Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, after suffering a heart attack.

The son of Iva and Ernest Barton, he was born on May 16, 1928. Bob spent his entire life in Schenevus, most of it working on the family farm.

Bob started his education in the local one-room school and graduated from Andrew S. Draper Central.  He received a bachelor’s in physical education from Ithaca College in 1951. He worked for three years at General Electric in Schenectady.

In 1955, he and his wife Barbara purchase the family dairy farm from his parents which he operated until 1990 when his son Steve bought the farm. He continued to work side by side with Steve for the remainder of his life.

Bob served on the Andrew S Draper Central School Board of Education in the 1970s. For many years, he also served as a board member and vice president of the Milk Producers Cooperative.

He is survived by his daughter Sherry Roege-Pederson and her husband Doug of Westford, Mass.; his son Steve Barton and his wife Julie of Schenevus; and his daughter Connie Lull and her husband Doug of Westford.  Also, four grandchildren, Carol, Diane, Jennifer, & Robert.

Bob was a generous man, always willing to help out his neighbors. His greatest pleasure came after he successfully organized a donation program of heifers to farm families in the North Country following the 1998 ice storm there.

The funeral will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Schenevus Methodist Church. A buffet follows.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his name can be made to the Schenevus Methodist Church, 70 Main St., Schenevus, NY 12155

Online condolences may be sent to www.hellerskinnerfh.com

Arrangements are with the Heller & Skinner Funeral Home, 155 Main St., Worcester