Obituary of Greg Barr
When Greg Barr’s family learned that his heart had failed him, they couldn't believe it. His big relentless heart had always been his best quality. There are countless ways he put his life on the line, but in the end he left us on June 19th, 2021, his wife Marlene Barr by his side, after a life full of adventure.
Between standing up to strangers bullying others on a city train to interrupting games with cringeworthy jokes to his poker posse, he lived life unapologetically, fearlessly, and without filters. Anyone who had the good fortune to be close to Greg saw this thread throughout his work, his hobbies, and through every relationship.
Fittingly, Greg was born in 1949 to Mary (née Anderson), an English Teacher, and Dwight Barr, a Radio Personality, in Muncie, Indiana. They moved him and his younger twin brothers Brad and Scott to California in 1960, where Greg harassed just about every creature within a mile radius of the house, foreshadowing his talent for getting under people’s skin later in life. Greg left home and attended UCSD, SDSU, Pacific University in Oregon, and UC Riverside, earning his Bachelors, Masters, and Teaching Credential. He went on to teach history, metalshop, technology, and to coach wrestling in Lake Elsinore and Fallbrook High School Districts for 30 years; he later taught inmates in the San Diego jail system.
Greg taught at the same high school, his children Jason and Cheyenne Barr, attended. Much to their horror, he would burst into history classrooms in full costume every year as Napoleon and give a rousing speech to a room full of curiously shocked teenagers. An odd choice for the broadest shouldered teacher on staff to choose the most notoriously petite commander in known history. This was one of the ways his passion to improve public schooling came through. He helped turn around a school from a bullying environment to a healthy one within the Fillmore Unified School District, created the Academies Program and Senior Project program at Fallbrook High, and then led the school into the modern age with the “Digital High School” program. He was the Vice President of the Union at Fillmore, President of the Teachers Association at Fallbrook, and Teacher of the Year on a few occasions. His daughter Cheyenne fondly remembers standing on many a picket line with him, standing up for teachers and school funding.
But Greg’s favorite place was always on or under a boat. Between his deep sea fishing, freediving for abalone, chronic boat fix-it attempts, and diving some 60 feet under the waves hunting for whatever creature approached him, it’s a wonder that he had his feet on the dry ground when he passed. He owned almost a dozen boats throughout his life; each one he rode at full speed until it broke. Tinkering was a special passtime. He dabbled in making his own biodiesel, caring for saltwater aquariums, brewing his own beer, and fixing everything you could think of (at least for a little while) with some duct tape.
Greg’s second favorite place was just under your skin. Debate was one of his favorite ways to gain entrance to your heart. If he ever struck a nerve in someone he saw it as an opportunity to truly connect with them. “Okay, then let’s talk about it,” he’d say as he would settle in for another bout of heartfelt discourse. In fact, Greg was a solidly diplomatic man. He served 12 years dependably as a respectful and professional board member on the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Board of Trustees, passionately serving student interests and lobbying federal and state representatives to support public higher education.
But without fail, every sustained quiet moment at a campfire or next to a fishing pole had Greg compulsively telling his inappropriate jokes. The true entertainment for anyone was not in the joke itself but in watching Greg turn beet red and succumb to his own boisterous laughter - often before he could even get the punchline out. His laugh was booming, and the world is certainly a lot quieter now without Greg’s eruptions.
Greg is survived by his wife Marlene, his brothers Scott (Caree) and Brad (Anne), his children Jason (Susie), Cheyenne (Brian) and Sarah, and five grandchildren Elizabeth, Kaytlin, Michael, Jeffrey, and Ember, and six great grandchildren.
We will miss him for his unquenchable thirst for life and “go big or go home” approach to most things. From hangliding without instruction to post retirement acting classes, and from rounds of fudge sundaes to the whole poker crew to hiking the Grand Canyon at the age of 65. Everyone seems to have a Greg story and we’d love to hear them all.
Please come tell us your favorite story here. His memorial service will be 5pm on Thursday, July 8th at the Southwestern Yacht Club. For more information and to please RSVP here.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Greg’s memory be made to the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges or to the Ronald McDonald House Charities at www.rmhcoregon.org, designating Springfield Heartfelt House as the recipient, or to Lions VisionGift in Portland, Oregon.