Death
Opting not to have heart valve replacement surgery, Barker's health rapidly declined after the recording of The Two Ronnies Christmas Sketchbook and he died of heart failure at the Katherine House hospice in Adderbury, Oxfordshire on 3 October 2005, aged 76, with Joy by his side. News of his death made top billing on the television news headlines. The Sun featured a front page of just the headline "It's Goodnight From Him" and an image of Barker's glasses.
Barker was cremated at a private humanist funeral at Banbury Crematorium, which was attended only by family and close friends (his son Adam did not attend as he was wanted by police for questioning over allegations of accessing child pornography via the internet). A public memorial service for Barker was held on 3 March 2006 at Westminster Abbey, with some 2,000 people in attendance. Corbett, Richard Briers, Josephine Tewson, Michael Grade and Peter Kay all read at the service, while others in attendance included David Jason, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Leslie Phillips, Lenny Henry, Dawn French and June Whitfield. A recording of Barker's rhyming slang sermon from The Two Ronnies was played, while as the cross processed up the aisle of the Abbey, it was accompanied by four candles instead of the usual two, in reference to the Four Candles sketch. Barker was the third comedy professional to be given a memorial at Westminster Abbey, after Joyce Grenfell and Les Dawson.
Read more about this topic: Ronnie Barker
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