The World Curling Federation (WCF) mourned the death of 80-year-old Dr. Donald Barcome Sr. as the former organization president was laid to rest yesterday, May 21, in Grand Forks, North Dakota, U.S.A.

Barcome passed away on May 18 following battles against various heart ailments and a cancerous brain tumor.

Barcome served as World Curling Federation president from 1988 to 1990, when the organization was known as the International Curling Federation. He earlier served as United States Curling Association (USCA) president from 1982 to 1983 and was also an active member and former president of the Grand Forks Curling Club.
 
"Don Barcome was a major figure in the development of curling, and his leadership at both the USCA and WCF helped both organizations to become better organizations," said David Garber, who served as the USCA's executive director from 1985 to 2006. 
 
A native of Wisconsin, Barcome earned a doctorate in medicine in 1954 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and moved to Grand Forks in 1965 when he became the medical director of the University of North Dakota Rehabilitation Hospital.
 
One of Barcome's sons, Don Jr., won the World Junior Championship in 1984 and also competed in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Don Jr. was also an executive member of the organizing committee for the successful 2008 World Men's Curling Championship in Grand Forks, an event for which his father was named the honorary president.

"He was one of the best friends I ever had in my life," Barcome Jr. told local media. "We had a very close father-son relationship."