Obituary
Guest Book
1925
2014
Joe Barlow was born May 13, 1925, in Springfield, Colorado, the son of the late Hildred (Winters) and Harvey Barlow. He passed away Sunday, July 13, 2014, at PineCrest Retirement Community.
After graduation from Fargo(OK) High School, Joe joined the US Navy, serving his country during WWII in the South Pacific from March, 1944, to May, 1946. He was awarded the American Campaign Medal, Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Campaign Ribbon with one star, and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. After returning to the states he went to work for Santa Fe Railroad in Amarillo. Joe met his future wife, Ruth, who also worked for Santa Fe. Joe and Ruth were married in Amarillo on August 15, 1948, and were blessed to share an amazing 63 years.
Ruth and Joe had two daughters, Carlene Bryant of Quinter, Kansas, and Carolyn Taylor of Houston, Texas. Joe worked for Continental Carbon Co. as an industrial traffic manager in Amarillo until 1961, when he was transferred to the Houston offices. After retiring from Continental Carbon he worked Rock Island Railroad and traveled to Alaska to help with the Alaska pipeline.
In Amarillo Joe helped Ruth with various projects for Brownie and Girl Scout troops. In Houston he coached girls' softball. The team members lovingly called him "Papa Joe". Many of the classmates of the girls considered "the Barlow house" to be their second home. He and Ruth loved every one of the kids that visited. After both retired, Joe and Ruth moved to Hilltop Lakes, Texas, where they lived until 2002. While at Hilltop Lakes, he served as a volunteer fireman and EMT. He enjoyed golfing almost daily, and fished as often as possible until they moved to PineCrest Retirement Community here in Lufkin. His favorite pastimes at PineCrest included playing and calling bingo and playing dominoes and card games with other residents. Joe and Ruth spent many hours together working on their family genealogies. They traveled the states looking for graves of deceased relatives and meeting with living relatives to exchange information discovered. They visited numerous libraries to research census records, including going to the Salt Lake City Library in Utah.
Joe is survived by his daughters, Carlene and Carolyn, and four grandchildren, Adam Bryant and wife Marlyn of Stockton, Kansas, Aaron Bryant of Hays, Kansas, Christy Taylor and fiancé Kevin Bray of Galveston, and Daryl Taylor and wife Jennifer of Houston; seven great-grandchildren, Angeline, Alyssa and Sierra Bryant of Hays, Kansas, daughters of Aaron; Morgan and Aricka Bryant of Colby, Kansas, daughters of Adam; and Dylan and Jacob of Houston, sons of Daryl and Jennifer Taylor; one brother, Jerry Barlow and wife Margaret; one sister, Jane Neaville; and two sisters-in-law, Jimmie Lee and Joyce Barlow. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, and numerous friends.
In addition to his parents, Joe was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Stephenson Barlow; three brothers, Jimmy, Joy and Glenn Barlow; and two sisters, Nina Williams and Lucille Meyer.
Condolences may be offered at www.gipsonfuneralhome.com
Services have been placed in the trust of Gipson Funeral Home
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
1 Entry
July 17, 2014
JT Winters
Our sympathy in your loss...of a special person.
I remember Joe as our "uncle" as we also remembered Lucille, his sister, as our "aunt" because they were so close in age to my Dad, and we seen them the most. Those two were always teasing..It must have been a fun filled life growing up with them two for Nina, Jerry, Jimmy, Joy and Glenn. I remember family reunions or get togethers in Quinlan Okla and ice cream making. And his family visits to us in Kingsmill, Tx. Joe took us to the awesome Astrodome in 1966 to see a baseball game and we sit about 20 rows up from 1st base. Seen a guy hit by a foul ball while he was taking a drink of beer about 10 rows below us and we laughed so hard. That's as close as I got to a major league baseball game foul ball! Joe had that awesome hatchback car, too, that we rode in. I remember him so proud of his girls growing up as they played softball and tennis as he enjoyed outdoor sports. I guess I should add all sports as he loved to play cards too. In later years as I was married and living in Houston, him and Ruth invited us over almost every weekend to eat fried fish he had caught and cooked out by the garage..good food and usually homemade ice cream. Along the drive way next to their house, they had bushes. These were peppers and I tried eating one, once!, and I was so hot...he got a good chuckle out of that and I even rubbed my face and it was on fire too! maybe the girls would remember if it was habonero.. I made a few of his regular weekend golf trips too, and Bay City was one we'd head out early for..still dark even in the summer..fun visits! I think he was in charge of arranging the weekly tournaments of golf or fishing tournaments for continental employees, it seemed. I'd like to play with him now as he could hit it straight and mine was a bananna curve back then.. Back to when our first daughter was born in Houston, Ruth and Joe were always willing to babysit while we garage-sale shopped over in their area....Great Helpers! Once while my folks were down to Houston to visit, I remember my dad and Joe in our apartment kitchen kidding each other, as usual, but they were busy cutting open oyster clam shells. Joe had taken my folks on a tour of Galveston and came back with a bag/bucket of oysters in the shell, and he was giving my dad a course in opening them..and of course there was fresh made ice cream too. One funny story Joe always liked was when my pregnant wife had been to the doctor and drove off into heavy rain runoff and a splash stalled the car and she crawled out of the window at 9mos. which reminds me of the time a hurricane took down a huge tree in their front yard....As last memories, I remember Joe at the reunion in Colorado..and him passing us (Mom-Fayanna, Dad-John, and me-J.T.) on mountain roads..don't remember if he was driving but I bet he was encouraging 'who was driving' to step on it.. Joe was always competitive and made a game of most things it seemed...A great dad and friend and cousin. who will be missed but remembered by all.
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