Adolph Joseph Barta Jr.

Adolph Joseph (“Sonny”) Barta, Jr., 84, passed from this life on December 25, 2016 after a long battle with and complications from Parkinson’s disease. Sonny was born at home in Gonzales County, the first-born son of Adolph and Petronella Barta, on January 24, 1932. After graduating from Gonzales High School in 1950, Sonny decided to stay at home and work on the family farm, and farming and ranching became his lifelong occupation. A beloved son, brother, and uncle (to multiple generations), Sonny honored and cared for his parents into their elderly years. Other relatives, including widowed aunts, were also beneficiaries of his sacrificial service over the years whenever a need arose, such as a stray cow or calf, a snake in the hen house, or a water well in need of repair. Though he never married, Sonny was a true family man who loved getting together with his large extended clan, particularly at the Sunday and holiday dinners that were held regularly for years at the family home. Those dinners were often followed by jeep rides around the farm and fishing trips to the stock tanks with the nieces and nephews in tow, and fondly remembered by all. He loved people and was truly a “hail fellow well met,” who would stop and take the time to catch-up with a neighbor when they would meet driving down the gravel roads around his home or in town on the streets and in the shops and businesses of Gonzales. An avid hunter and fisherman, Sonny enjoyed teaching his nieces and nephews the joys of these outdoor pursuits, along with the importance of gun safety and respect for and conservation of wildlife. He took many out-of-state hunting trips over the years for a variety of big-game, including particularly memorable ones in the late 1970’s to Alaska when he came home with a fine caribou trophy and another trip to Colorado when he bagged a large black bear. The bearskin rug graced the guest bedroom bed and frightened some of the young nieces and nephews who took naps in that room.

Preceded in death by his parents, brother Bobby Gene Barta, and sister-in-law Esta Lee Barta. Sonny is survived by brother Marvin Lee Barta and wife Lillian Ann, sister Loretta Ann Spahn and husband Wayne, sister-in-law Wanda Barta, nine nieces and nephews, twenty-one great nieces and nephews and four great, great nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the kind staff at the Height of Gonzales who took exceptional care of Sonny in his final years.

A visitation will be held on Thursday, December 29 at the Seydler-Hill Funeral Home, 906 St. Paul Street, in Gonzales, from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. followed by interment at the Catholic Cemetery officiated by Father Paul Raaz at 12 noon. The pallbearers will be nephews Rex Spahn, Tim Barta, Lorne Dale Barta, Rodney Gene Barta, Matt Spahn, Max Barta, and Scott Barta. Arrangements under the care and direction of Seydler-Hill Funeral Home.