Obituaries : Ray G. Barnard; Prominent Rancher, Developer

Ray G. Barnard, a prominent Ventura County rancher and real estate developer, died Monday at his Ventura home after a brief illness. He was 83.

Barnard was born on March 14, 1913, in Tehachapi. He moved with his family to Ventura in 1917, when his father, Charles Ventura Barnard, who was born in Ventura in 1869, returned to help manage the E.S. Barnard Co., the family oil and land holding company.

Barnard graduated from Ventura High School in 1930 and attended the Boeing School of Aeronautics in Oakland. He worked for the family ranching concerns and the Standard Oil Co. from 1932 to 1942.

In 1942, he sailed to Ethiopia as part of a special civilian task force that established an American base in North Africa. After returning from Africa in 1943, he joined the U.S. Army and served in France and Germany during World War II.

Barnard returned to Ventura after the war to work in avocado and citrus growing. As president of the Barnard Development Co., he was involved in many real estate development projects in Ventura County. He also sat on the boards of several local companies, including the Ventura Lemon Co., Commercial and Farmer’s National Bank and Norris Oil Co.

An avid sportsman, Barnard was also a supporter of wildlife conservation.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Eleanor Jane Barnard of Ventura; his daughters, Raye Gail Moss of Niceville, Fla., and Mary Susan Barnard of Monterey; his stepchildren, Eleanor Jo Bollinger of Las Vegas, Jane Ann Marangoni of Thousand Oaks and Ronald Fred Bollinger of Ventura; five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the Ventura County Museum in Ventura. Arrangements are under the direction of Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura.