Keith Henry Barker (1925 — Sept 27, 2020)

Keith and his wife, Irene, spent many happy weeks at their cottage on Kahshe Lake near Housey’s Rapids from 1970 onward. Their family of four children grew to include fourteen grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren. All looked forward to Keith blowing the whistle at 3:00 p.m. and doling out ice cream through the kitchen window. They enjoyed all the traditional cottage activities such as taking slow boat rides, towing the kids skiing, and catching a few fish dinners. 

Keith came to the cottage to relax and putter, whistling while he worked. Some of his notable ‘chores’ included culling poison ivy plants, planting green onions in the flower beds, and keeping the beach clear of clam shells. On rainy days you would find him slurping instant coffee while reading and re-reading Reader’s Digest. On sunny days he would wander the bush lot searching for a few blueberries to add to his cereal, saplings to strip and varnish for walking canes, and mossy tree stumps to ‘decorate’ the nooks and crannies near the buildings. Kahshe Lake was definitely Keith’s favourite summer spot.