Joseph B. Barron

After enduring many years of health challenges, Joseph B. Barron died peacefully at Pikes Peak Hospice on the evening of September 30, 2019 with his wife, Gwen, and youngest son, Scott, by his side. Joe was born on June 6, 1929 in Walsenburg, CO to Judge Joseph A. Barron and Esther Page Barron. Following graduation from St. Mary’s High School in Walsenburg in 1947, Joe entered Colorado College where he pledged and joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. He was an active Sigma Chi alum, meeting monthly with some of his “brothers” well into their 80’s. Joe graduated from Colorado College in 1952 with a BA in Zoology and Business and went on to earn an MBA in Business and Finance from the University of Denver. In 1976, Joe completed the Securities Industry Institute at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. He had joined Boettcher & Company in 1954 as an Account Executive and in 1970 he opened the Boettcher office at the Broadmoor Hotel, where he served as Vice President until 1991. Following the closure of Boettcher/Kemper, he joined Piper Jaffray, followed by UBS and ultimately retired from UBS in 2003. Joe’s dedication, loyalty and confidentiality to his clients was of the utmost importance to him and he developed and maintained many close and cherished friendships. His clients’ personal lives and well-being were as important to Joe as was their business. Joe married his college sweetheart, Carolyn Carlock in 1949 and together they had four children, Jamie, Robert (Buddy), Brett and Jennifer. They later divorced. As a father and Boy Scout Leader, Joe was an excellent teacher, sharing his knowledge on a vast spectrum of topics. And although Joe was a man of few words, his chosen words were always wise. He was a life-long learner and masterful note-taker – a spiral notebook, cocktail or dinner napkin, grocery receipt – he wasn’t particular about where he jotted down his thoughts and accumulated world wide information. In addition to his day job, Joe was an instructor of Investments Courses for the University of Colorado. It was in one of these sessions that he met a young widow, Gwendolyn Sackerson Burton. Their friendship became a romance which blossomed and they were married in 1962. Shortly thereafter, Joe unselfishly and graciously adopted Gwen's young children, Christine and Steven. In December 1964, Gwen and Joe’s son, Scott, was born, and their two families now became one - yours, mine and ours! The family of 9 spent many summers camping, fishing, and hiking. Whenever entertainment seemed to be dwindling, Joe would take his kids out hunting for geodes, vaguely circular rocks containing masses of crystals. Joe swore they were there, but the kids have yet to find one! A proud, life-long Coloradoan, Joe was an avid outdoorsman; hunting, fishing, camping, jeeping, skiing, golfing. In addition, he was active with Kiwanis, the Boy Scouts (as a youth he attained the highest level, Eagle Scout), the Girl Scouts, the Broadmoor Golf Club and the Garden of the Gods Club. But Joe’s fondest leisure endeavor was “TeePee,” a fishing club on the South Platte River near Deckers, CO. He and nine other fishing aficionados established TeePee in 1970. For nearly 50 years, Joe devoted his heart and soul, along with his time, knowledge and manual labor to the development, maintenance and improvement of his beloved TeePee. As several of the current members have said, Joe was the protector of and the glue that held TeePee together. Next to his family, TeePee is, perhaps, Joe’s greatest legacy. Joe is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 57 years, Gwen, his children, Jamie Barron, Christine Rider (Craig), Jennifer Cooper, Steven Barron (Ann) and Scott Barron, 13 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and sons, Robert and Brett Barron. There will be a Memorial Service and Reception on Saturday, October 19th at 11:00 am at Swan Law, 501 North Cascade Avenue in Colorado Springs. In lieu of flowers, should you desire, please make donations to Pikes Peak Hospice, & Palliative Care, 2550 Tenderfoot Hill Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80906. Finally, the family would like to thank the many Pikes Peak Hospice caregivers who visited Joe, especially Pastor Steve, Roy, Rebecca and Olivia, who all saw through Dad’s rough exterior and endeared themselves to him.