William Kyle Barlow (March 13, 1936 – September 21, 2022) was an American politician in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

. He was a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, representing the 64th District from 1992 to 2012. Barlow lost his bid for an 11th term to Republican Richard L. Morris in the November 8, 2011, elections, 55% to 44%. Barlow introduced bills for electoral reform in Virginia, including instant runoff voting, none of which became law. During his long legislative career Barlow was a strong advocate for agriculture and public education. Barlow was born on March 13, 1936, on Oak Crest Farm in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. He graduated from

Smithfield High School Smithfield High School is a public high school located in Smithfield, Virginia in Isle of Wight County, south of Newport News and the James River. It is part of the Isle of Wight County Public Schools and graduated its first class in 1906. The sc ...

in 1954 where he was a captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. He earned a bachelors degree in Agricultural Economics from

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

where he served as the Regimental Commander of the

Corps of Cadets A corps of cadets, also called cadet corps, was originally a kind of military school for boys. Initially such schools admitted only sons of the nobility or gentry, but in time many of the schools were opened also to members of other social classes. ...

and President of the Class of 1958. After graduating from college, Barlow served for four years as an intelligence officer in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

including a tour of duty in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. After leaving the Air Force he earned a law degree from the

University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in 1965, and returned to Smithfield where he practiced law for more than half a century. Barlow died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

at his home in Smithfield on September 22, 2022.

Notes

References

External links

* * (constituent/campaign website) * Members of the Virginia House of Delegates 1936 births Living people Virginia Tech alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni People from Isle of Wight County, Virginia 21st-century American politicians People from Smithfield, Virginia {{Virginia-delegate-stub