I had the pleasure of sitting next to Bob Barci when I was an inside sales rep at SBS in 1998 and 1999. Now Bob was a pretty conservative guy, and I’m pretty liberal, so needless to say we didn’t agree on a lot of issues. But that never stopped us from getting along. The real icebreaker came when I picked up a snowboard. Bob practically fell over himself offering to get me up to the mountain to learn how to use it. Bob got this super cool deal that when he went up to do Ski Patrol (on his snowboard, of course), he got free lift tickets for friends and family. Bob was eager to share them with me any time he went up. My first trip involved Bob and I and JP Grochala, another SBS rep at the time. We all went up and without any lessons, got on our boards and tried to get up the rope tow. What a disaster. We eventually decided the lift would be easier, and by the end of the day we were carving turns and having a great time.
Although he would be busy “working” while we were on the mountain, Bob would ask how I was doing whenever he saw me. I went up with Bob and Nancy (before they were married) one day and got to know Nancy, which I never had the chance to do in the office. I could tell they were happy together. Both of them were very encouraging. Bob even gave me one of those little snowboard toys for Christmas one year. He reminded me of something I gave him a few times, although truth be told I can’t remember what it was myself.
Bob was a great person to sit next to at work. He was always cheerful, and we actually had a good time teasing each other about our disparate viewpoints. I’d catch up with him occasionally after I left SBS, when I would call to ask about something for myself or the shop. I was sad to hear that he had come down with cancer, and it didn’t look like it was going to be a battle that he would win. They said he came in to work as often as he could, probably just to keep his sanity. I suppose he was in quite a bit of pain, not to mention his mental state knowing he would probably not last very long. I’d have to say that I bet he lasted longer than they thought he would, given his spirits.
Bob was a super nice guy and I’m glad I got to know him. I haven’t seen him in probably seven years, but I’ll remember him and I’ll miss him.
-Evan MacKenzie
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BOB BARCI SERVICES INFORMATION & TRIBUTE ON “EVENING MAGAZINE”
On Tuesday, April 3rd, Bob Barci lost his 18 month battle with cancer. He was 60 years old.
Memorial Service, 10:30 a.m., Sat., April 14 at the Timber Lake Christian Fellowship in Redmond. For the complete & detailed obituary, directions, and on-line guest book , go to: http://www.flintofts.com/ .
In lieu of flowers, you can make a donation to the Hyak Volunteer Ski Patrol c/o Shirley Cummings 3005 Webster Point Road NE, Seattle, Wa 98105. www.hyakskipatrol.org
And to all in the NW, we at SBS encourage all to tune in to EVENING MAGAZINE Thursday evening, April 12th (on Channel 5). They will air a special tribute to Bob Barci. 7pm pst.
SEATTLE BIKE SUPPLY
Memorial Service, 10:30 a.m., Sat., April 14 at the Timber Lake Christian Fellowship in Redmond. For the complete & detailed obituary, directions, and on-line guest book , go to: http://www.flintofts.com/ .
In lieu of flowers, you can make a donation to the Hyak Volunteer Ski Patrol c/o Shirley Cummings 3005 Webster Point Road NE, Seattle, Wa 98105. www.hyakskipatrol.org
And to all in the NW, we at SBS encourage all to tune in to EVENING MAGAZINE Thursday evening, April 12th (on Channel 5). They will air a special tribute to Bob Barci. 7pm pst.
SEATTLE BIKE SUPPLY
Monday, April 9, 2007
MY BOB BARCI !
It was 1963 that the then teenager Bob Barci and I found common interest in cars, boardsports, and babes. We lived that period of "American Graffiti." Bob with his '47 Ford Coupe and me with my '55 Chevy. We met at a surf club meeting. Surfing, skateboarding, even sandboarding became a focus of what started a life-long friendship. No surprise that snowboarding would become the center of Bobs lifestyle. He had a passion for details; loved photography, collected and seemed to keep every sticker, tee shirt, and souvenir of his sixty years on this planet.
Bob went off to the Navy in the late sixties, while I married early and opened a surfboard shop on the Oregon coast. It was in 1971 that we reunited and found a new direction. Sunshine Cycle was formed in the San Juan Islands as a summer business with the help of Terry Heller, then a salesman at Tiger Cycles (later to be the founder of Seattle Bike Supply). I continued to live in the Hawaiian Islands in the winter months and after four summers of the bike rental business, we decided to open a retail store; the BIKEFACTORY got it's humble beginnings in Lynnwood, Washington.
Within a year we were very involved in the BMX and skateboard business and expanded to Bellevue, eventually opening "Skatefactory" locations in Federal Way, Olympia, and Bellingham. We maintained a business partnership for twenty years. We invested and developed property on the Big Island of Hawaii. We played hard and had a couple of failed marriages. It was 1984 that we made the decision to open a BIKEFACTORY here in Hawaii and the "Bob and Wally" show, as we called it, continued until Bob made the decision to close the mainland operation in the mid nineties.
He soon joined Seattle Bike Supply and guess what? I became one of his major accounts! It was a dreadful cell call I received while on a California buying trip that Bob announced his fight with cancer. We had planned an extended visit on the next Interbike show in Las Vegas. But it was not to happen. He and Nancy had reservations to visit us here in Honolulu and they would travel the Big Island for a full moon experience. Again, it did not happen.
I was given the gift to visit Bob the last week of living. It was great to see his broad smile and he shared with me his pride and joy, the red Cobra, his 1964 handmade surfboard, the assorted collection of Vans shoe boxes, the downhill skateboard,and the vintage snowboard equipment. Aloha to you BOB BARCI, you are my mentor, my lifelong friend. Thanks Nancy for your love, care, and concern for him.
Sincerely, Wally Parcels
www.BIKEFACTORYhawaii.com
Bob went off to the Navy in the late sixties, while I married early and opened a surfboard shop on the Oregon coast. It was in 1971 that we reunited and found a new direction. Sunshine Cycle was formed in the San Juan Islands as a summer business with the help of Terry Heller, then a salesman at Tiger Cycles (later to be the founder of Seattle Bike Supply). I continued to live in the Hawaiian Islands in the winter months and after four summers of the bike rental business, we decided to open a retail store; the BIKEFACTORY got it's humble beginnings in Lynnwood, Washington.
Within a year we were very involved in the BMX and skateboard business and expanded to Bellevue, eventually opening "Skatefactory" locations in Federal Way, Olympia, and Bellingham. We maintained a business partnership for twenty years. We invested and developed property on the Big Island of Hawaii. We played hard and had a couple of failed marriages. It was 1984 that we made the decision to open a BIKEFACTORY here in Hawaii and the "Bob and Wally" show, as we called it, continued until Bob made the decision to close the mainland operation in the mid nineties.
He soon joined Seattle Bike Supply and guess what? I became one of his major accounts! It was a dreadful cell call I received while on a California buying trip that Bob announced his fight with cancer. We had planned an extended visit on the next Interbike show in Las Vegas. But it was not to happen. He and Nancy had reservations to visit us here in Honolulu and they would travel the Big Island for a full moon experience. Again, it did not happen.
I was given the gift to visit Bob the last week of living. It was great to see his broad smile and he shared with me his pride and joy, the red Cobra, his 1964 handmade surfboard, the assorted collection of Vans shoe boxes, the downhill skateboard,and the vintage snowboard equipment. Aloha to you BOB BARCI, you are my mentor, my lifelong friend. Thanks Nancy for your love, care, and concern for him.
Sincerely, Wally Parcels
www.BIKEFACTORYhawaii.com
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Bob Barci, my Friend
Bob Barci
I cherish Bob as my friend.
He was a person of principal.
He loved to talk about the sport (snow boarding) of which he could look back to it’s beginning and his connection with it.
He loved talking bicycles and bicycle parts.
He loved to talk of the perfection to which his pick up and sports car were rebuilt.
He loved to set off the burn pile after dark with friends at his Fall City home.
He loved the boom of his potato gun.
But he loved and cherished Nancy, who Bob affectionately call his prize.
Dan Hensley CMVSP and MSSP Ski Patroller
I cherish Bob as my friend.
He was a person of principal.
He loved to talk about the sport (snow boarding) of which he could look back to it’s beginning and his connection with it.
He loved talking bicycles and bicycle parts.
He loved to talk of the perfection to which his pick up and sports car were rebuilt.
He loved to set off the burn pile after dark with friends at his Fall City home.
He loved the boom of his potato gun.
But he loved and cherished Nancy, who Bob affectionately call his prize.
Dan Hensley CMVSP and MSSP Ski Patroller
Friday, April 6, 2007
BOB BARCI PASSES
Bob Barci, one of SBS’ finest salesreps for the past 12 years, lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday, April 3rd. Bob was 60 years old.
In the Northwest, Barci is well known for his many passions. Whether it was surfboards, photography, skating, snowboarding, cars, or his work, he took on his interests with unbelievable enthusiasm and always at full throttle.
Bob Barci got his start in the bike industry in the early 70’s, helping out his good friend and highschool pal Wally Parcels at Sunshine Bicycles on Orcas Island, on the weekends.
By 1974, they opened the first BIKEFACTORY in Lynnwood, which soon introduced their own brand of folding bike; the PortaBike. For the next 20 years, Bob and Wally operated BikeFactory; and made it one of the Seattle area’s premiere bike and skate shops during the thriving 80’s.
Also during this time, Barci was an instrumental figure in the earliest days of snowboarding in the Pacific Northwest. Back in 1985, the legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom race was Bob's brain child (along with Tom Sims). In the 2006 snowboard documentary, titled “Platinum,” Barci is interviewed, and displays the swallow-tail and finned boards they duct-taped to their feet back in the day.
In 1995, Barci joined Seattle Bike Supply, where he assisted his customers in more ways than one throughout the next 12 years. In 2002, Bob was awarded the prestigious “Employee of the Year” and “Salesman of the Year” by SBS.
Between his love for work, Barci was actively and constantly involved with the Ski Patrol and his car club. His collection of Subaru’s and a replica AC Cobra have been shown at many car shows around the Northwest.
Bob is survived by his wife Nancy.
Memorial Service, 10:30 a.m., Sat., April 14 at the Timber Lake Christian Fellowship in Redmond. For the complete & detailed obituary, directions, and on-line guest book , go to: www.flintofts.com .
He will be missed and remembered by many.
In the Northwest, Barci is well known for his many passions. Whether it was surfboards, photography, skating, snowboarding, cars, or his work, he took on his interests with unbelievable enthusiasm and always at full throttle.
Bob Barci got his start in the bike industry in the early 70’s, helping out his good friend and highschool pal Wally Parcels at Sunshine Bicycles on Orcas Island, on the weekends.
By 1974, they opened the first BIKEFACTORY in Lynnwood, which soon introduced their own brand of folding bike; the PortaBike. For the next 20 years, Bob and Wally operated BikeFactory; and made it one of the Seattle area’s premiere bike and skate shops during the thriving 80’s.
Also during this time, Barci was an instrumental figure in the earliest days of snowboarding in the Pacific Northwest. Back in 1985, the legendary Mt. Baker Banked Slalom race was Bob's brain child (along with Tom Sims). In the 2006 snowboard documentary, titled “Platinum,” Barci is interviewed, and displays the swallow-tail and finned boards they duct-taped to their feet back in the day.
In 1995, Barci joined Seattle Bike Supply, where he assisted his customers in more ways than one throughout the next 12 years. In 2002, Bob was awarded the prestigious “Employee of the Year” and “Salesman of the Year” by SBS.
Between his love for work, Barci was actively and constantly involved with the Ski Patrol and his car club. His collection of Subaru’s and a replica AC Cobra have been shown at many car shows around the Northwest.
Bob is survived by his wife Nancy.
Memorial Service, 10:30 a.m., Sat., April 14 at the Timber Lake Christian Fellowship in Redmond. For the complete & detailed obituary, directions, and on-line guest book , go to: www.flintofts.com .
He will be missed and remembered by many.
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