Obituary of John Barr, III

John Barr III passed away on June 27th,2017, in Plano, TX from complications arising from respiratory onset Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). He was born in Hoboken, NJ and grew up in Weehawken, NJ, where he graduated from Weehawken High School. Mr. Barr graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1962. He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he finished first in his class of 1000 at Officer Candidate School and served as a Supply Corps Officer until his discharge in 1966. He worked as a corporate lending officer at Chase Manhattan Bank while attending the NYU Stern School of Business. Mr. Barr joined The Mennen Company in 1972, where he worked for twenty years, retiring as Senior Vice President-Corporate Development when Mennen was sold to Colgate-Palmolive. Mr. Barr co-founded and served as President of Madison Capital Partners, an investment partnership which invested in hedge funds and other alternative investment strategies. Mr. Barr was dedicated to serving his community. He volunteered as coach or officer of several youth soccer, baseball, wrestling, basketball, and gymnastics programs. He served for twenty years as a Trustee of the Early Childhood Learning Centers of NJ, including a term as Chairman. Mr. Barr was a member of the Princeton University Alumni Schools Committee, a Founding Member of the Morris School District Curriculum Council, and a Founding Trustee and Capital Campaign Chair of the Morris Educational Foundation. Mr. Barr also served as a Trustee of Cancer Care of NJ; as a Member of the Finance and Capital Campaign Committees of the Community Theater; as a Trustee of the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ for ten years, including a term as Vice President; and for twenty years as a Trustee of TeenPride, Inc., most recently as President. Mr. Barr is survived by Joyce Chabora Barr, his wife of 47 years, by his daughter Dr. Alexandra (Sasha) Webb, her husband Dr. Anthony Webb and their two sons, Andrew and Nicholas, of Dallas, Texas; and by his son Tristan, his wife Christine and their two daughters, Emma and Ella, of Lake Norman, NC. He is also survived by two sisters, Mary Louise Sholl (William) of Chocowinity, NC, and Jane Sell (Jeffrey) of Naples, FL. A celebration of his life will be held at Gallaway and Crane, 101 S Finley Ave, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 on Sunday, July 9th from 1-3 pm. In lieu of flowers, Mr. Barr has requested that donations be made to the ALS Association (alsa.org), TeenPride (TeenPrideInc.org), or the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ (ShakespeareTheatreNJ.org).