Montage Remembers Barry Siegel

Longtime Montecito public servant, community leader and Montecito Association Board member Barry Siegel passed away Thursday night after suffering from a stroke. Services will be held at noon on Monday, Sept. 24, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State Street. The following remembrance has been provided by Barry’s family and Montage is honored to post it as a salute to a man who dedicated so much of his time in making our community a better place to live! He will be sorely missed:

Barry Siegel, a community activist and retired engineer, died peacefully on Thursday, September 20, 2007. He was 74 years old. Barry grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended local public schools and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in aeronautical engineering. After working several years at Douglas-Santa Monica on ballistic missile defense, he had a 30-year career at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo where he worked on a number of military satellite programs, urban transportation and solar energy projects. He retired in 1993 as the systems director for the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite navigation system.

While living in Los Angeles he was a loan executive to the Greater Los Angeles Urban Coalition for several years where he worked on improving transportation services in Los Angeles, was a member of the Mayor’s advisory committee on rapid transit, and President of Crenshaw Neighbors, a Baldwin Hills racial integration group. After moving to Montecito in 1993 he continued his community activities. He was the vice-chair of the 101 Task Force that recommended the Milpas to Cabrillo, Evans to Sheffield and Casitas Pass and Linden Interchange Route 101 improvement projects which were adopted by SBCAG, was a member and Chair of the City of Santa Barbara’s Transportation and Circulation Committee and was a Board member of the Montecito Association and chair of its Land Use Committee.

He loved walking, jogging, swimming in the ocean, eating at local restaurants, playing senior softball, and participating in the literature classes taught by Joan Fallert and Mark Ferrar.

He is survived by his beloved wife Martha, his mother Minnie, sons Dr. David Siegel (wife Patricia) of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tom Siegel of Santa Barbara, and grandchildren Jacob and Hannah.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, September 24, 2007 at 12:00 noon at Trinity Episcopal church, 1500 State Street, Santa Barbara. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Barry’s memory to the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST), PO box 2495, Santa Barbara, California 93120, or a charity of your choice.

Montage also posted a story about Barry’s public affairs work in March, 2007.