Obituaries Obituaries (April 30, 2004)

Robin Barnett

Robin Barnett, 36, a Social Studies and World History teacher at Foothill High School since 1999, was killed Sunday night in a taxicab accident while traveling to the Entebbe Airport in Uganda. Ms. Barnett, who lived in Oakland, was traveling through Africa while on a one-year leave of absence. She was scheduled to return to Foothill in August to resume teaching freshmen and sophomore classes.

Reached at her home in Smithville, N.J., her mother Sandy Notis described her daughter as a dedicated teacher who traveled frequently to parts of the world that she taught her students about. These trips included recent visits to Nepal, Thailand and Cuba. A University of Texas graduate, she had also lived for a time in Siberia.

Notis said that her daughter had been in Uganda on a research project and was to leave Sunday night for Johannesburg to join her boyfriend Chris Barranti, who was scheduled to leave from his San Francisco home the following day. In a telephone call from the U.S. embassy in Uganda, she learned that her daughter died when the cab she was riding in overturned on an airport highway. An unidentified passenger was seriously injured. Ugandan police are searching for the cabdriver, who fled the scene.

Besides her mother and Barranti, Ms. Barnett leaves her step-father Martin Notis; a sister Holly Slotter; and two brothers, Jeff and Jeremy Barnett, all of New Jersey. Funeral services will be held Sunday at the Roth-Goldstein Chapel in Atlantic City. Condolences may be sent to Sandy Notis, 529 Salem Way, Smithville, NJ 08205, or by telephone to (609) 748-8104. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that contributions be made in Robin Barnett's name to two of the social awareness organizations in which she was active, Amnesty International or the Sierra Club. Paul King

Pleasanton resident Paul King died of congestive heart failure and pneumonia on April 24 at ValleyCare Medical Center. He was 66.

Born in Stockton on Nov. 24, 1937, he was raised in the Bay Area. He married his wife Alice in 1960, and their daughter was born in 1969. He built a career in the moving industry as a salesman, and he enjoyed many hobbies, including playing tennis, traveling and listening to music. He also enjoyed following sports and was active at his church.

He leaves his wife of 43 years; one daughter, Allison King of Rochester, Minn.; one brother and sister-in-law; and his mother, Kay King of Hayward.

Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m., Sunday, May 2, at San Ramon Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Crow Canyon and Alcosta boulevards in San Ramon.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Roy Thompson Ministry to Southeast Asia in care of the International Foundation #125000, P.O. Box 23813, Washington, D.C. 20026-3813, or to the Ministry to the Balkans in care of Macedonian Outreach, P.O. Box 398, Danville 94526.

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