From: Stuart Weinberg
To: cb-kern@listbox.com
Subject: cb-kern: Bob Barr passed away this AM, 1/12
Date: 01/12/1999 10:15am

I'm very shocked and sorry to have to report that Bob Barr passed away this AM - my tremendous gratitude to Kern Executive Director Dave Steele for calling us up with the news....

Bob apparently had been doing well but was very recently diagnosed with liver cancer - only entered the hospital a few days ago. His wife Barbara had passed away from cancer just 3 months ago.

Bob was a counselor at Kern in the mid 1940's when Bill Young was the director and the camp was still at the bottom of the hill. But even most recent staff probably knew Bob Barr. He was at just about every Strawberries and Ice Cream, and, of course, he was not one to be sitting quietly in the back!

Bob joined the Camp Kern Board in 1960, chaired the Board in 1965-66, and became an Emeritus Board member in 1986. He was a recipient of Kern's Volunteer of the Year award. He chaired the 75th Anniversary Committee in 1985. When The Carl B. Kern Fund was established in 1987, Bob was among the charter Advisory Board Members, and more recently took over Chair duties since April, 1997.

In short, he embodied enthusiasm and positive spirits for both Camp Kern and the Dayton YMCA. He had such a stong belief in the value of camping and the YMCA, and worked tirelessly on projects to promote both. So much more will be written in the papers about all of his contributions to the community - and please feel free to share your thoughts here as well. We've lost a tremendous force today for the good of the Dayton area community.

As details become available on arrangements, I'll pass them along. Please email the list (cb-kern@listbox.com) if you find out.

Stuart:

I was saddened this morning to learn of Bob Barr's death. How well I remember his wit and wisdom through all those years as a supporter of Camp Kern. Bob and Jack were such significant luminaries in my formative years at Kern that it is difficult for me to conjure up any memory of "Old Dogs" without their presence.

Please know that my prayers and thoughts are with Bob, his family, and the Kern family that your e-mails keep together.

Dear Stuart

Thanks for getting the word out to the Camp Kern community about the passing of our friend Bob Barr.

In the short ten months that I have been a part of the Kern staff, it was readily apparent the impact that Bob has had on Kern, the Dayton YMCA and the Dayton community. What an amazing man.... and a man with so much vitality. He took such unabashed joy from being in the company of others. He made everyone around him light up with his enthusiasm and the ability to make you feel welcome. Bob has been a tremendous ambassador for so many years and his presence will be sorely missed.

May God's loving grace be with Bob's family and friends as we learn to live in a world without this fine man.

Stu, thanks for helping get the word out on Bob. I did not know he was sick until Sunday so hearing the info Tues. morning was quite a shock. I wrote the following last night and thought I would share it...
John Neff

Dayton is about to be reminded that sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone.

Stu: Bob's enthusiasm was contagious. His committment to Camp and to Jack S. along with those many others had a tremendous influence on me and so many others. I am still in disbelief. God bless the life of Bob Barr.

Dear Kern Lovers.

Bob Barr's passing leaves a great void in Dayton and beyond. He was the one who encouraged Kent Barnheiser to ask me to join the Kern board and my father to become a member of the Central YMCA board. We were also Rotary friends. A terrible loss of a beloved man.

Marty Caskey