W. Onico Barker

{{short description|American politician (1934–2023)|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = W. Onico Barker

| image = Senator Barker 1988.jpg

| caption = Barker in 1988

| state_senate = Virginia

| district = 19th

| term_start = January 9, 1980

| term_end = January 8, 1992

| preceded = Coleman Yeatts

| succeeded = Charles R. Hawkins

| birth_name = William Onico Barker

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|11|06}}{{VaElectionsDatabase|355}}

| birth_place = Reidsville, North Carolina, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|03|25|1934|11|06}}

| death_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S.

| party = Republican

| spouse = {{marriage|Lucy Mae Lovell|1962}}

| alma_mater = Virginia Tech (BS)

| residence = Danville, Virginia

| allegiance = {{flag|United States}}

| branch = United States Army

| serviceyears = 1957–1960

}}

William Onico Barker (November 6, 1934 – March 25, 2023) was an American politician who served as a member of the Virginia Senate from 1980 to 1992.{{cite news|first=Blaine|last=Harden|authorlink=Blaine Harden|title=Republicans Take 3 Assembly Seats From Democrats in Northern Virginia|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/11/07/republicans-take-3-assembly-seats-from-democrats-in-northern-virginia/077cb53d-a048-4645-a250-9bcc03aa0c94/|date=November 7, 1979|accessdate=December 28, 2019}} He ran for the Republican nomination to succeed Dan Daniel in Congress in 1988 but lost to Reagan White House aide Linda Arey.{{cite news|first=Donald P.|last=Baker|title=Arey Gets GOP Nod In Va. 5th District|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1988/04/10/arey-gets-gop-nod-in-va-5th-district/99c21c23-1e2b-45bd-964a-a416017fe6fb/|date=April 10, 1988|accessdate=December 28, 2019}}{{cite book|first=James M.|last=Glaser|title=Race, Campaign Politics, and the Realignment in the South|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1024016749|accessdate=December 28, 2019|pages=93–94|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300147353|oclc=1024016749}}

Barker died in Dallas, Texas on March 25, 2023, at the age of 88.{{cite web |title=William Onico Barker |url=https://www.norrisfuneral.com/obituaries/William-Onico-Barker?obId=27603824 |website=Norris Funeral Services |access-date=2 April 2023}}