On Saturday, September 14th the fifth annual Colby Barber Memorial Run will take place around the community. Motorcycle riders will spend the day traveling between Wakefield, Randolph, Steele City, NE, among other towns, before ending up in Clay Center.
The event raises funds for a scholarship to honor Colby Barber – one each for Clay Center and Wakefield schools each year, a fact that’s only fitting since he attended both, his family said.
But in addition to its good deed, the day is about getting together to share memories of Colby and celebrate his fun-loving spirit.
Born in 1994, Colby hit the ground running. A daredevil from day one, his Mom, Jannell Neill, said Colby was known to ride off a rock wall with his bike.
“He was too young to be doing it and he loved every minute of it,” she said. His Dad, Paul Barber, also mentioned the wall, saying all Colby wanted to do was make the jump again and again.
And when he got older, the stunts got more extreme.
Like jumping from the roof of the house onto the trampoline – a stunt learned about when a video circulated around school. That was in junior high.
“He was always doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing,” Jannell said. Once he asked for a needle, citing a stuck splinter; a friend had used it to pierce Colby’s ears.
“He wasn’t scared of anything,” Paul said.
He also loved pranks; classics like a rubber band on the sink sprayer, taping things to the mirror with Duct tape, then some more original pranks, like passing gas into a Gatorade bottle and convincing his grandma it was a new berry flavor that smelled great.
Then there were hobbies like riding dirt bikes and motorcycles, jet skis.
“He loved being outside; Milford Lake was his favorite place and they would ride all summer long,” Jannell said. “I think he may even jumped off the bridge at the Cosway once or twice. He loved that adrenaline rush.”
Much of these antics, Jannell said she got used to over time. While the worst of the stunts, she never learned of until well after the fact.
“With Colby, no news was good news. He didn’t call unless something had happened or he needed to talk.”
Paul said he would regularly call Colby to find him out on an adventure – driving to a bar in Texas because a friend wanted to check it out.
“He lived life, he really did,” Paul said. “He enjoyed. He wanted to experience everything and he got to experience a lot in a short period of time.”
But despite his ornery tendencies, it was always good intentions at the heart of what he did, both parents agreed. As did Colby’s sister, Aspen, and stepmom, Tera Barber.
“He had a very sensitive side to him,” Tera said. “He was very compassionate, very caring; he wore his heart on his sleeve.”
The family said this came out in many ways: playing with kids, who often clung to Colby.
“He would leave his friends in the dust if there was a kid he wanted to play with,” she added. With Paul pointing out, “Kids just wanted to be with him; maybe that was just his childish personality coming out.”
Meanwhile, he was quick to help friends with anything they may have needed.
“He was there; if there was ever a friend who needed help,” Paul said. “It didn’t matter if he was in the middle of eating dinner, he’d go help.”
With Jannell adding, “Even though he was a jokester and a trickster, when you needed him he was there,” Jannell said. He was always the type of person you could go to. The type of guy who always showed up for people.”
And he had plenty of friends, too.
“He could make friends with pretty much anyone he came across,” said Aspen. “He brought the party anywhere he went, brought all the fun and excitement and was ready to go.”
Then there were his natural gifts, athletics, especially football. He was offered a full-ride to play football at Friends University, but was unable to play after having too many concussions, Jannell said.
“Every time we turned around he had a concussion,” she said, while laughing.
Math was another strong suit. In middle school, Colby was called to the office for cheating in math class, Jannell said. She and Paul were brought in and they told Colby to do the problems right then and there, proving he could solve the work in his head.
Numbers were just one more of his natural gifts. As Aspen got older, she would send pictures of her homework for help from big brother.
After high school, Colby tried a few trades and went to school to work on wind turbines. The family said he then found his dream job, farming, and was employed for a family who treated him like their own grandson.
Jannell said he loved farming because it was outside and always different, while working on wind turbines was monotonous. In addition, Paul and Tera said he was ready to start planting his roots. Vocal about wanting to stay nearby and in a rural community, turbines meant constant travel.
In 2020, at 25 years old, Colby passed away two days after a farming accident. While in the ICU at Wichita, friends and family would wait in the parking lot to provide food, drinks, or anything else they may have needed. Immediate family were the only ones allowed due to COVID restrictions, and they told healthcare workers that Colby’s best friend was his brother, which allowed him to visit.
Now, with Colby providing scholarships and creating a day where folks can remember, it’s a way for the family to find solace.
“Sometimes it helps just to talk about it,” Neill said. With Paul adding that every year he’s surprised how many people show up.
“I am just floored, it shows me how far out that he had reached out and touched peoples’ lives that I had no idea about.”
The Colby Barber Memorial Run, Sept. 14, will feature raffle items, auction, Dieck’s catering, and live music at the Elks Lodge in Clay Center. More information on the ride/poker run can be found on their Facebook page.
