John F. Barnier

Born in Arizona in 1942, John Barnier departed Yuma General Hospital as quickly as the circumstances allowed, crossing the Colorado River to his home in Winterhaven, California—and thus he claims to be a legitimate fourth-generation Californian, his mother’s grandparents having arrived in the Oceanside/San Luis Rey area in the mid-1800s. After moving to San Diego, John attended Abraham Lincoln High School, where future Grossmont colleague and English Department chair Frederick J. Stollenwerk was an instructor of Spanish and Latin. Besides pursuing a math and science program, John played varsity baseball for the Hornets as a junior and senior and held the office of Student Body Vice President as a senior, graduating in 1959.

At San Diego State, John played on the freshman baseball team, pledged Sigma Chi (where he met future Grossmont faculty colleagues Lee Brown, Jim Symington, and Bob Larsen) and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 with a major in English. In June of 1965, with the completion of his thesis research on Henry David Thoreau, John was awarded a Master’s Degree in English and a California Junior College Teaching Credential. Before that summer was finished, he had married now-former-wife Barbara and begun a five-year tenure at Southwestern College. In early 1970 two life-changing events occurred: Barbara and John’s son David was born, and John was hired by the Grossmont College English Department, chaired by Frank Vittor. He began teaching at Grossmont in the fall of 1970.

Early on, John taught a variety of classes: English fundamentals, composition, American lit, and several kinds of introductory literature courses. As the department grew, he came to concentrate on composition, primarily English 110, until he added English 124 after a Fall 1994 sabbatical, during which he studied the academic applications of critical thinking and wrote an extensive syllabus for English 124. Along with the usual department contributions, John served from 1972 until 1974 under Fred Stollenwerk as an Assistant Chair; he edited one departmental program review under Department Chair Mary Donnelly; and, on a college-wide basis, he served as editor for both the Application for Reaffirmation of Accreditation of 1984 and the Education Master Plan of 1997. Including his five years at Southwestern College, John taught thirty-eight years as a full-time community college instructor before retiring in 2003. 

In retirement, John has continued to maintain (though less regularly) his long-time pursuits of hiking and photography, especially in the canyons and on the rivers of Southern Utah and along the Eastern Sierra Nevada crest. He has traveled four times to Europe, always with his brother Bill, visiting areas of France that include Paris, Normandy, the Perigord Noir, and Provence; Bilbao in Basque Spain; and much of the length of Italy, from Lake Como to the Amalfi Coast. At home in Del Cerro, he keeps busy walking in Mission Trails Park, working on his native flora landscaping, and hanging out with his son, David (Patrick Henry HS, Cal Berkeley, and USC Law) and his daughter-in-law Michelle (Poway HS, San Francisco State U, U of Hawaii), who were married in 2010. David is an attorney whose specialties include estate-planning and construction law, and Michelle is a high school teacher and counselor with the San Diego City Schools. Whenever John attends a game at Petco Park, he ALWAYS touches the commemorative brick given to him at retirement by the department.

All personal images and written text, copyrighted John Barnier and used with permission for this archive. Contents of this page may not be copied/distributed without express consent of the owners, John F. Barnier, and the Grossmont College English Department.

"Thoreau's Mirror Image." Thesis, M.A. San Diego, CA: Diego State College, 1965.

• "Barnier, John F." The Gallery, 1974: A Photographic Directory of the Grossmont College Staff. El Cajon, CA: Grossmont Junior College District, 1974. p7.
• _____. 35th Anniversary Faculty Directory. Grossmont College. El Cajon, CA: 1996. p17.
• _____. 25th Anniversary Faculty Directory. Grossmont College. El Cajon, CA: 1986. p15.
• Del Sudoesto Yearbook. San Diego State College. San Digo, CA: 1962. 
• Document Collections and Photographic Archives of the Grossmont College English Department. El Cajon, CA: Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.
• Grossmont College Institutional Archives. Learning Resource Center. Grossmont College, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.
• Private Photo Collection. Copyright John F. Barnier.
• Statesman Yearbook. San Diego, CA: Abraham Lincoln High School, 1958-1962.

• Jack Barranger 1970-1979
• Dorothy Ledbetter 1970-1994
• Ruth Anderson 1970-1999 (Chair (1977-1978)
• Peter Bradley 1970-1999
• John Barnier 1970-2003 (Assistant Chair 1972-1974)