Obituary of Coke L. Barr

Coke L. Barr, son of Rev. T.L.Z. Barr and Nora Robarts, died June 19, 2001, at his home at Westminster Shores Retirement Center, in St. Petersburg, Florida, from complications for Pneumonia. Mr. Barr, a third generation Floridian, was born on December 8, 1909, in Melrose. His siblings were Candler Barr, Orville Barr, and Myra Barr Spencer. Because his mother died when he was only four, his stepmother, Hattie Clyde Hodges Barr played a large role in his upbringing. Coke Lafyles Barr was a graduate of Florida Southern College (chemistry) and Duke University (statistics), and served as a Naval Officer with the Pacific Fleet in WWII, supervising coding and decoding of messages, For many years he was principal of Kirby-Smith Junior High School and Ribault High School in Jacksonville and he was an organizer and early President of the Teachers' Credit Union. Later he supervised system-wide testing and statistical analysis for the Duval County school system. Mr. Barr was a lifelong Methodist and long time member of the First United Methodist Church of Jacksonville. He was a wonderful husband and father and is survived by his wife of 62 years, Eleanor Smith Barr, by three children and their spouses (Roger and Jean Barr, Margaret and Jack Olsen, and Marsha and Ron Shafer). and by six grandchildren, Daniel and Holly Barr, Eric Olsen, and Mallory, Megan and Kelly Shafer. $(document).ready(function(){ });