Wilmer "Bud" Barton

Wilmer "Bud" Franklin Barton, Jr., age 88 of Tampa Florida, died of pancreatic cancer on Monday, July 16, 2018 at his home.

Bud was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on Thursday, June 19, 1930. He had a difficult childhood working at odd jobs since the age of 7, after his parents divorced. He lived with several relatives before finaly living with his father's new family. He graduated high school and joined the United States Navy in 1947.

He served in the Korean War as a Marine Hospital Corpsman from 1947-1952 with more than one year in the DMZ. During his corpsman training at Bethesda Hospital, he and two other marines were saved by President Truman's yacht when their small boat overturned in the Potomac.

He retired from the DuPont Chemical Plant in Memphis after working there for 35 years and moved to Tampa, Florida to be near his son.

He performed classical ballet (adagio with partner) at the Marjorie Duckett School of Dance in the mid-1950s. He was a lifelong body builder with great upper body strength. He was a member of the Memphis Artifacts & Antiques Society and collected many rare objects and furniture over his lifetime. He pursued his goal of becoming a millionaire and succeeded several times over. He was a private investigator who repossessed goods and vehicles, and performed surveillance on individuals.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Sue Pierce Barton; son, Blake D. Barton, Sr. MD; father, Wilmer F. Barton, Sr.; and mother, Gladys Matthews Barton.

Survivors include his brothers, Jerry Barton Sr. & Greg (Louise) Barton; sister, Janet Barton Hain; grandchildren, Blake Barton, Jr. and Shelby Barton; nephew, Michael Hopson (Sharon); three nephews, five nieces, seventeen great-nephews and nieces, and four great-great-nephews and nieces.