Garth Kevin Bare

Beloved son, brother, uncle and most excellent friend, Garth Kevin Bare passed away after a long illness on October 22, 2017. He was Kansas City born and bred, the third of six children for Chet and Hope Bare. Raised in Raytown, MO, he developed a keen sense of fun and an uncanny ability to play practical jokes. Garth could take any event and elevate it to a new level. Imagine the high school prom date promised a nice dinner at the Plaza; only Garth could arrange for the white glove service of a personal waiter and pristine tablecloth - at McDonald’s. Garth was a good student and participated in many of the traditional honor societies in high school. He was a dedicated Boy Scout and earned its highest honor, Eagle Scout. He took his academic abilities and social skills to the University of Missouri in Columbia. While he studied and earned a Chemical Engineering degree (1982), it is no surprise that his after-class activities garnered equal attention. He constructed a make-shift swimming pool in the third floor dorm showers. It was fun, until the “pool” collapsed and flooded the resident hall! He ran for student body president on the Birthday Party platform, appearing in his birthday suit and using the motto, “Go Bare”. He won with a campaign promise (among others) to flood the football stadium in order to hold mock naval battles. All kidding aside, he was elected president and served with sincerity from 1979-1980. He was also a member of the QEBH, a secret senior honor society at MU. We’d say more, but he took those secrets with him. He returned to Kansas City and continued his studies at UMKC, receiving his Juris Doctor in 1987 and passing the bar shortly thereafter. While in law school, he served two years as the Ward Two Alderman for Raytown. He was instrumental in arranging for the first televised city council meetings, a tradition that continues to this day. Garth was well traveled. He served as a teaching missionary in the Philippines, explored the wonders of Europe with friends, and witnessed the total solar eclipse in Mexico, to name a few. The Bare clan took summer excursions with grandparents and cousins, caravanning to Alaska in one notable adventure. He often visited with family throughout the US, helping with home projects and bringing joy to his many nieces and nephews. He worked for many years in the publishing office of Acres, USA. He listened to classical music and had an avid interest in history and science. In fact, he spent several summers in Tennessee as “Mr. Science Guy”, dreaming up experiments for the kids at a friend’s annual Rivierafest event. Garth was thoughtful and kind, always listening and ready with a helping hand. Those of us left behind that will miss his smile, his laughter and his unending sense of humor include his father, Chet; his siblings, Mark(Michele), Lance(Suzanne), Jane(Steve), Marla and Cleve (Tara); his nieces and nephews, Alan, Stephen, Kevin, Lauren, Sabrina, Delaney, Kelsey, Grace, Sarah, and Megan; and far too many friends to name. And in the end, it’s not the years In your life that count It’s the life in your years. -- Abraham Lincoln GO BARE!