When his mother and father separated and later divorced, he took on the role of man of the house. Because he was the oldest, he made every effort to provide whatever he could for his mother, his sister Nancy, brother Leroy, and half-brother, John.

Richard found many positive male influences among his uncles who were farmers. Rich would spend his summers working on the Kostka farm with his Uncle Albin, who was just a few years older than he. During those summers, he would live with his Kostka grandparents, or one of the uncles. His Kostka grandparents loved having him during the summer, not only because he was becoming a fine, decent young man, but because he was a good worker. It is an interesting, yet puzzling fact that, even though there were Barwick-owned farms in the same area as the Kostka farms, Rich was never invited by his Barwick relatives to join them during his free summers.

He was a real champion to his sister and two brothers. (Rich never referred to his ‘half-brother’ John as anything but, “My brother, John”). After his mother remarried, (to John Maggelet), and young John came to live with them, it was a struggle for their mother to hide her disappointment for being unable to provide her children with the kind of things that John’s biological mother would bring him on her ‘visitation days. John was understandably reluctant to share his new treasures, and Bertha must have felt guilty. On one visit, John’s mother brought him a brand new bicycle. Of course Richard and Nancy were never able to have such a thing, but Richard made sure that his younger brother, Leroy, had a bike to ride with John. He had used his earnings from delivering the Kuryer Polski, (pronounced KOORRR ree yer), the local Polish newspaper.

On another occasion, he instructed the neighborhood bully on the proper way to treat young girls. An Italian family had moved into the predominantly-Polish neighborhood where the Barwicks’ lived. The “Bertoni” family’s youngest son, Angelo, would attend school in the same classroom with Richard’s sister, Nancy. Angelo proved to be a very nice, polite young man who had the voice of an angel, and would sing solo many times, both at school and at church. Angelo had an older brother, however, who early on would make himself out to be the neighborhood bully, not caring who he tormented. Not, that is, until he decided to push Nancy Barwick into a snowbank. Nancy went straight home and complained to her ‘big brother’ about how she was harrassed by the “Bertoni boy”. Rich headed straight for the Bertoni house. We’ll never know what occurred between the two boys, but Nancy was never again harrassed on the streets of their neighborhood. Rich and Angelo would become the best of friends, but no one remembers the name of the Bertoni Bully.

At some point in his mid-to-late teens, he and an Uncle Jim (Edwin Wojcik) owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store. Although Rich was good at managing the store, the joint venture failed. He realized, however, that he had a knack for the grocery business and found work at the Co-op Grocers in Cudahy. Although he had to travel quite a distance from the upper north side of Milwaukee to a suburb on the southeastern side, he made the trip daily and rarely, if ever, missed a day of work. He was an experienced, proficient, and trustworthy employee.

No one can remember if Rich had any girlfriends. Not until he became starry-eyed over one of his co-workers at the co-op store. It seemed as though he took a liking to her from the first time he saw her. She would later admit that, at first, she thought he was no more than a naive, country ‘bumpkin’. Although Rich tried numerous times to get a date with her, she had a steady, and always turned him down. When her steady heard that Rich was asking for dates, Wes, (the steady) became angry, (more likely jealous), and told her so. The next time Richard asked her for a date, she accepted. Rich was madly in love. On one of their first dates, he took her bowling, (Rich was a pro-caliber bowler) and the rest of the story is history. Several months later, at a family gathering for the Christmas of 1948, Rich’s brother Leroy was playing the role of Santa. He asked the young lady to come sit on his lap; that he had a surprise gift for her. It was a diamond engagement ring, and Rich’s way of proposing to her. On September 3rd, 1949 Richard Ronald Barwick married Bernadette WENDELL, daughter of James Edward WENDELL & Cecilia Mary BELLHUMEUR, in Milwaukee. Bernie was 21 at the time, born July 6, 1928.

Richard would leave the grocery business and take a job at one of the Milwaukee area steel fabrication plants, The Maynard Steel Company. Factory work was not his forte, and he was constantly checking the classified ads each day in the newspaper. Finally, in April of 1955, he responded to an advertisement placed by the City of Milwaukee, recruiting for the police department. He was a natural for the job.

After completing the required training program, he was assigned to a patrol that doubled as an ambulance. Not only did the officers assigned to ‘combination squads’ deter crime, they also performed first aid and emergency transportation for the city’s infirm. For 10 years, Rich would patrol the streets surrounding the neighborhood where he and his family lived. Then, in the mid-60s, Rich was promoted to Patrol Sergeant. With the promotion came a transfer to one of the more crime-ridden sections of Milwaukee. He also went from the 3 pm to 11 pm evening shift, to the much-busier 11 pm to 7 am, midnight shift. It was during this particular assignment that Rich was being watched by the powers-that-be for his expertise as a people-person while dispelling trouble on the city streets. When the department formed it’s unique yet effective Special Weapons and Tactics Squad, (SWAT), it was Sergeant Barwick who was selected as one of the team’s first supervisors.

There came a time when the Chief of Police came under attack by the media for a series of improprieties that occurred within the department. The problem went deep into the rank-and-file, so much so that even members of the Internal Affairs Division were suspect. The Chief would organize a special task force to investigate any wrongdoing among the officers of his department, but he would need to appoint the best he had for this job. He needed a cop who was respected by his peers, but was above reproach. One of the men who was hand-picked for this assignment was Sergeant Rich Barwick. He was the ’Cop’s Cop’; the type of man who was incorruptible. Much of the ire and contempt that the people of the city held for it’s police force was resolved by the actions of the special “Red Squad”, and primarily by the actions of Sergeant Barwick. He was tough, but fair, and was respected by every member of the department for the manner in which he dealt with internal problems.

Richard retired in 1986 after 31 years of honorable service to the community. His retirement years were spent with his best friend and wife , Bernie, close at his side, and his children and grandchildren not far away. He and Bernie traveled the states, visiting friends and relatives, and enjoying his favorite activity, the game of golf. He played golf courses all over the country, and even played a round at the “Northern-most golf course with real grass greens” in Fairbanks, Alaska. He could often be heard saying, to anyone who would listen, “God, I love this game.”

Richard died while asleep in the early morning hours of August 15, 1990, at the age of 61. His sudden and unexpected death occurred just 10 days before the eldest of his grandchildren was to be married. He was planning to travel to Salt Lake City to be in attendance. He has left a void in the lives of everyone who knew him. But his affect on those who were close to him will ensure that his memory will live on.