Joe Edward Barrrows, 74, of Bevil Oaks, died Saturday, September 1, 2007 at his residence.
A native of Checotah, Oklahoma and a resident of the Beaumont area since 1957, Joe was the former owner of Jefferson Electric. He also was a United States Navy veteran having served during the Korean Conflict.
Joe is survived by his wife, Billie Barrows of Bevil Oaks; daughter, Connie Shinker and her husband Andy of Santa Fe; sons, David Barrows and his wife Linda and Alan Barrows all of Bevil Oaks; four grandchildren, Carissa Barrows of Beaumont, Casey Lourde of Bevil Oaks, Hunter Gallien of Austin, and August Joseph Barrows of Bevil Oaks; and one great grandchild, Landon Lourde.
Funeral Service will be 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont with burial to follow at Rosedale Cemetery, Sour Lake. A gathering of family and friends will be 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Monday, September 3, 2007 at the mortuary.
Memorial contributions may be made to American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 5144, Beaumont, Texas 77726.
My Dad, My Hero
My dad was a strong willed man. He grew up on a dirt farm in Oklahoma where he was the third child born to James Norfleet and Addie Eliza Barrows. He had two older sisters, Teovie and Mary Inez. I do not know much about my dad’s childhood days, but I know his mother died when he was thirteen years old. He helped his dad and took care of his two older sisters. He liked to hunt and fish with his childhood friend, Norman Welch and remained his best friend throughout his life. The last year of dad’s life, he talked to Norman on the phone every week. My dad worked a lot when he was small and instilled his work ethics into all three of his children. He joined the Navy straight out of high school and married my mom the day after she turned eighteen. They were married for fifty-three years. When they were newlyweds, they lived in Hawaii for two years while he was in the service. My mom had never been away from her home in Oklahoma and had to grow up fast. After the service, they moved to Beaumont because his Uncle Joe who lived in Port Acres told him there was a lot of opportunity here. My dad joined the apprenticeship program with IBEW, electrical union. When he graduated from the program he earned the top apprentice of the year award.
He worked for the Hinote Electric Company for many years, starting at the Goodyear Plant and eventually working in the office as an estimator. He studied hard and earned his Master Electrician certification which he was very proud of. He was very active in Little League baseball, and coached baseball for several years. He had a lot of fond memories of those times and talked about his “baseball boys” a lot. I believe a lot of his team members really respected dad and he made a good impression on them to always do their best.
He expected a lot from us three kids and always taught us to work hard. We all worked hard and wanted him to be proud of us, which he was.
Lord he was tough on us and sometimes we did not understand that. He was not fast to bail us out of bad situations, but if it got too bad for us to handle he was always there for us.
When we were young he would play baseball with us in our backyard. One day the ball went over the fence and my dad told my brother David to climb over the fence and get the ball. David did not want to go because our neighbors had a wild goose in their backyard. Well my dad never took no for an answer and he told my brother to go over that fence. My brother did what my dad said and went over that fence. The goose started attacking my brother and my dad flew over that fence and rescued him.
This was a good example of how our dad wanted us to try and face the “wild geese” in our lives, but he was always there to protect us when things got too tough for us to handle.
My dad was a great provider, protector, husband, and father and I will never forget how strong he was, even in the end.
Yes, my dad will always be my hero.
Connie
