Teacher found Tacoma man’s 1963 diploma in the dirt. Facebook sleuths helped get it home
Johnny Joyce was taking his students for a walk outside Blix Elementary School in Tacoma last week when he noticed something in the dirt next to the playground.
Waterlogged and dirty, it was a Stadium High School diploma from 1963 belonging to a Ronnie E. Barker. Joyce did a quick calculation in his head: If the man was still alive, he would be about 80 years old.
A history lover and member of the local historical society, Joyce decided to take the diploma and search for Barker’s family, in case it held significance. He posted a photo of the diploma on the Tacompton Files Facebook page March 19 and the post took off. As of this week, the post had nearly 700 likes and reactions and more than 300 comments and 86 shares as residents tagged people who might know who the man was and put their amateur detective skills to the case.
Facebook sleuths found Barker’s yearbook photo and the post caught the eye of Barker’s grandson, who alerted his father and his fiancee. Within 24 hours, the diploma was in the hands of Ronnie E. Barker Jr., the man’s son.
Barker Jr. said he cried when he saw the diploma on Joyce’s Facebook post. His father, who lived eight blocks from Blix, died in 1993 at age 49. Barker Jr. said he only has one photograph of his dad and him together, on his 17th birthday, which made getting the diploma back so special.
“I don’t really have a whole lot of memorabilia from my dad. So just to get his diploma was amazing, because now I can put it next to my diploma,” Barker Jr. said Tuesday. “It brought back childhood memories because that diploma, it was on his headboard right next to his [varsity] letter, and that’s where it was for as long as I can remember. That was the last place I’d seen it.”
Barker Jr.’s fiancee, Jennifer Moberg, said after Barker got divorced many of his things were lost over the years and his sons didn’t own anything with his name on it, not even an ID.
“I didn’t get a chance to meet him as an adult, I only know stories,” Moberg said. “This was just the most unexpected item that literally healed a part of [his sons]. It was so cathartic to watch them bond over it.”
Moberg said Barker’s diploma now hangs in a shadow box with his yearbook photos in their home next to Barker Jr.’s Stadium High School diploma.
Barker Jr. said most people would have thrown the diploma away, but Joyce didn’t, and “I don’t think he realizes how much it means to me.”
No one knows how the diploma found its way to a bench near Blix’s Elementary School. The family is still hoping other items of Barker’s will show up.
Barker Jr. said he wants to shake Joyce’s hand and thank him in person. After he graduated high school, Barker worked at the Nalley pickle plant in Tacoma, drove concrete trucks, played music, raced and built cars and played semi-professional football, like his son Barker Jr., he said.
“My dad was a larger-than-life kind of guy,” Barker Jr. said. “My dad was a good dude. He was a solid guy. I miss him. I talk to him every day.”
Although there were some people online who falsely claimed to know Barker or be related to him, Moberg said the whole experience gave her a more positive view of humanity. Many commenters said they hoped the diploma found its way to his family and posted far and wide to make that happen, she said.
“For someone to not just disregard this piece and to take the time and effort, it shows the true compassion and integrity of somebody to hope that eventually it would find its way back to the family,” Moberg said. “The human kindness in this is just phenomenal. You don’t get to see those acts of kindness much. I mean, they happen, but they don’t happen on a social media platform. It’s awesome to witness.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 5:15 AM.
