Robert F. Barter, Bath Iron Works Employee and Country Guitarist, Dies at 83

Robert F. Barter, a West Bath resident who worked for more than 30 years as a surveyor before joining Bath Iron Works, and who spent much of his adult life playing country guitar in bands across the region, died peacefully on March 23, 2026. He was 83.

Barter was born Aug. 20, 1943, in Bath, the son of Forrest and Simone Barter, and graduated from Morse High School before beginning his surveying career at Wright and Pierce. He later took a position at Bath Iron Works, the Washington Street shipyard that has shaped the economic and civic life of Sagadahoc County for generations, and that connection placed him squarely inside the tradition of skilled tradesmen who built their lives around the Kennebec.

Country music ran an equally deep current through those decades. His family's remembrance describes him as "an amazing guitar player" who played in many bands over the course of his lifetime, and his "larger than life personality" traveled as readily to a stage as to a job site.

Away from the shipyard and the bandstand, Barter was a regular at family car races, cheering on his grandsons from the grandstands with the same enthusiasm his family says he brought to every child's sporting event. Sunday afternoons meant football with friends and family. Mornings, reliably, meant coffee with his nephew Timmy.

He was predeceased by his wife, Linda Barter, and by grandchildren Tiffany and Kadhar and great-granddaughter Angelique. He is survived by daughters Dawn Barto of Dresden and Monica Dunning and her husband Dave of Bath; stepdaughters Paula Foye and Cathy Sherman, both of Wiscasset; grandchildren Cory, Nicole, Adam, Kevin, and Katie; great-grandchildren Scarlett, Marissa, and Egan; sisters Loretta Holman of Bath and Anita Hamblet of Connecticut; and brother Richard Barter and his wife Cindy of Brunswick.

A celebration of life was held April 4 at Daigle Funeral Home, 819 High Street, Bath, followed by a gathering at his daughter Monica Dunning's residence. Burial will take place at Old Greenlaw Cemetery in Wiscasset at a date to be announced. Condolences may be submitted online through Daigle Funeral Home's website at daiglefuneralhome.com.