James Franklin Barrett

Jim Barrett was born in Elkhart, Indiana in 1944. An only child, he loved music in any form, playing in an accordion band, then the piano, joining dance band in which he not only played the piano, but sang. That led to singing in high school and church choir with his dad. Then came the high school musical, The King and I, in which he had the bare-chested lead. The rest is history.

Enrolled at Ball State University, he quickly sought out opportunities which led him to the Civic Theatre. The music director of the show discovered his excellent tenor voice and invited him to join her church choir. Meanwhile, she had alerted a certain young soprano that he was coming and to make him welcome. Yes, it was there that he met Kathie, and they married at the end of their junior year. They sang together in church choirs and in duets for over 57 years.

Graduating in 1966, Jim became a math teacher at Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores, MI. Anyone who had him as a teacher was lucky - and they knew it. Teaching was in his DNA - and he loved it, loved his students and they, him. He maintained contact with a number of them and kept their photos. He found time to teach Driver's Training, sponsor the racquetball club, and run the clock for the school games, and he worked diligently as Math Curriculum Director K-12, doing teacher training around the state as well as nationally.

Daughters Heather and Allison were born in '71 and '72, and Jim jumped into fatherhood. He was a wonderful partner in raising them, and as they grew, Jim drew them into Community Theatre there at Lakeview. The school was known for its huge performances and legacy talent, and Jim just dove in, rarely surfacing. He had principal rolls in Music Man, Hello Dolly, Carousel, Brigadoon and others. Jim never met a role he couldn't enhance!

Not ever bored, Jim also taught at Macomb Community College for many years, eagerly switching gears to work with older students. Upon retirement, he and Kathie moved to Tucson, Arizona. After a year at the community college there, the University of Arizona invited him to join their faculty in the math department and in the Eller School of Business, where he taught for 10 years. However, after he retired, he was not done with the U of A. The University of Arizona Retiree's Association benefited from Jim's excursions around and near the University to better acquaint members with the place they had been working for years: backstage theatre tours, underground utility infrastructures that supported the entire campus, Almahra Horse Ranch, the Trolley Tour, etc. And he had a list for the future, such enthusiasm!

During his free time from teaching, he loved to travel, exploring many different countries. After traveling to China, he and Kathie taught at Wuhan University for a month, a year later, teaching college students studying at the equivalent of our MIT. The experience was gratifying, and both maintained contact with several of their students. They truly valued more personal contact . . . then there was the Llama Race in Fairplay, CO, taking him through chest high snow melt in order to complete the course. He never walked away from a unique experience, no matter how challenging.

Throughout their marriage, Jim was active in any church to which he belonged - choir, of course, but teaching church youth camp, as well as church leadership. To those activities he added classes to increase his own understanding of our Lord, as well as his own responsibility to live a righteous life. Here in Tucson, Jim Volunteered his time representing AARP as he helped people file their taxes, and he had most recently joined Senior Village in SaddleBrooke to help transport members to necessary destinations. He would return home full of the joy of service.

While living in SaddleBrooke nearly 20 years, Jim actively participated in the SaddleBrooke Singers, SaddleBrooke Performing Arts Group, Prime Time Players, Variety Shows, and Finance Committee for HOA1. While he played tennis for several years, his personal mission was to "groom" a trail for other hikers out behind the utilities and on towards the desert wilderness he loved. He even "buried" tools out there so he could continue where he had left off each time, he trekked out there. Instructions were that if anyone found them, that duty fell to them to continue Jim's project.

While Jim was known for all his activity, his greatest gift was his winning smile, warm personality, hearty laugh, and joie de vivre, no matter what he did. He lived, he laughed, he loved, and he will be most missed.

In lieu of flowers Donations in Jim's name may be made to St. Mark's United Methodist Church Music Program or United Methodist Church on Relief. CLICK HERE. Or the Senior Villages at SaddleBrooke CLICK HERE