Funeral services were held for Gilbert R. Barron, a former resident of Rosemead, who was involved in youth education and recreational programs for many years in the West San Gabriel Valley.

He passed away Thursday evening, July 23, at his home in Hesperia, CA from complications with Alzheimers.
Gilbert was born in East Los Angeles and attended Cathedral High School and Woodbury College.

Requiem Mass was held Thursday July 30, at 11 a.m. at the Holy Family Church, 9974 I Avenue, Hesperia, CA.

He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Virginia, and a son, Anthony, and step-son, Sean; two sons by a previous marriage, Gilbert, and Edward; and a daughter, Elvia. He is also survived by two sisters, Virginia Cisneros of 29 Palms and Esther Carroll of Hesperia, and a brother, David of Monterey Park.

Gilbert served on the Garvey Board of Education for 12 years, between 1977 and 1989. His service occurred during a period of change in the district population. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Rosemead City Council.

He served for eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He later was employed by Pacific Bell Telephone Company where he retired as a corporate communications sales executive. While at the phone company he was a leader of Los Padrinos, an employee organization. He also worked for 12 years for the Hesperia School District as a Bilingual Instructional Assistant.

As a young man he enjoyed playing basketball and that led to many years of coaching for the Monterey Park Sports Club and organizing traveling youth basketball teams. He continued his basketball interest in Hesperia, CA, where he coached middle school teams for several years.