Former mayor Lorraine Barke dies

Lorraine Barke, former mayor and longtime community leader in Morgan Hill, died March 5. She was 87.

Born in Illinois to Alexander and Emily Furtek, Barke spent most of her adult life in Morgan Hill with her husband Bernard, where they would grow into outsized figures in the local community.

The foundation of their local impact was Bell Nursery, a business that became much more than a simple shop. It was here that many of their first connections were forged with members of the South Valley community, including Raymond Bunt, who became a lifelong friend.

“I’ve known her for probably about 45 years,” Bunt said. “I was on the city council with her. We met long before that, when they started building out the nursery business. We provided some material for them. We would send customers to them, they would send customers to us.”

Her political career emerged organically from these community roots. Bunt remembered how Lorraine personally encouraged his political involvement. 

“Lorie decided, ‘You need to get more involved,’” he remembered fondly. “She strong-armed me. She was a great friend.”

As a city council member and two-term mayor, Barke became known for her responsive and transparent leadership. Barke served as Morgan Hill’s mayor from 1984-1991. 

“People could stop her anywhere, and she would always stop and talk to them about Morgan Hill and what the city council was doing,” said Laura Perry, a close friend of the Barkes.

During her tenure as mayor, Barke was faced with some difficult political decisions. When the city faced potential cuts to essential public safety services, Barke supported a controversial utility tax. The move was politically risky, and ultimately led to her recall, but demonstrated her core principle that a city’s primary responsibility is protecting its residents. 

“I made a motion to implement a temporary five-year utility tax until the next general election, so we wouldn’t lose our public safety people,” Bunt said. “She was in full support of it, because you can’t have a city that can’t protect its people. That’s what we were elected for, which is to ensure that you at least have a minimum of public safety.”

Perry described Barke as a “spitfire” who “does not pull punches,” even at 87.

“She remained sharp until the end,” Perry said. “The last two times I visited her, she accused me of not knowing some things that were in the paper, and not staying up on current events. She was on top of it, she was like the mayor over at Loma Clara.”

While her local impact was profound, Lorraine and Bernie’s life took a remarkable turn after his prostate cancer diagnosis. Instead of retreating, they embraced a philosophy of adventure. They sold their nursery and embarked on a global exploration that would define their later years.

Their travels took them all over the globe, visiting more than 80 countries across all seven continents. They rode elephants in Thailand, trekked through African deserts, explored Mayan ruins in Mexico, and visited war-torn Bosnia.

Their most challenging expedition took them to Antarctica, traveling on a ship with a crew that spoke only Russian. They slept in simple cabins and used specialized rubber boats to approach icebergs. Lorraine even collected pieces of ice from these frigid destinations, alongside other mementos from their travels including vials of sand from the Sahara desert.

Despite their global adventures, the Barkes’ heart remained in Morgan Hill. When asked about her favorite place, Lorraine would invariably speak of the United States and her hometown. Their partnership was defined by extraordinary closeness until Bernard’s passing in 2019.

“Both her and Bernie, it is hard to talk about one without the other,” Perry noted, “because they didn’t have children, so they were extremely close, and they did everything together all the time.”

An accident on a scooter eventually limited Barke’s mobility, but not her spirit. Bunt helped her transition to assisted living, maintaining their friendship. “I’ve spent a lot of time helping her,” he said. “Just things that friends do for one another.”

Perry visited Barke regularly at Loma Clara Senior Living. “I’ll miss bringing her donuts from O’Henry’s, playing bingo, watching movies and sharing meals,” she said.

Barke passed away peacefully on March 5, leaving behind a legacy that extends far beyond her official titles. The community will gather to remember her at St. Catherine’s of Alexandria Church, celebrating a life that truly made a difference. 

“She was a great help to a lot of people,” Bunt said. “It is a loss to her friends and to the community, because she was just a great person.”

A funeral mass will take place at 10am March 27, at St. Catherine’s of Alexandria Church in Morgan Hill, followed by a reception at Guglielmo Winery. The public is invited to attend and celebrate her remarkable life.