Dr. James Carr & Barbara Phillips Minor

Jim was born June 25th, 1943 in Batavia, NY where he grew up with brothers and cousins with whom he remained lifelong friends. In the late summer of 1961, he arrived at the University of Rochester, where he met his future wife on the first day of Freshman Week. They were "an item" ever since.

Barbara and Jim were married in the First Presbyterian church of Batavia in 1965. After graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering, they moved to Providence, R.I. so he could attend graduate school at Brown University. The day he attained his PhD in E.E. they moved to Washington, D.C. with their 2 children, where Jim worked at the Naval Research Laboratory, returning to work at Kodak in Rochester in 1973 to be closer to families on both sides. He worked in Kodak Apparatus Division and was granted two patents for copier technologies and became an international consultant on project management. He accredited E.E. programs at several universities through Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (A.B.E.T.).

In 1999 Barbara was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Both retired, and Jim became her loving caregiver in their home for the next 21 years. In addition to caring for Barbara, he was active in retirement. Jim was a leader of the NY Forest Owners Association, and before his passing placed a conservation easement on their cherished farm property in Schuyler County. He maintained websites for NYFOA, his Batavia High School class, and Beta Delta Gamma fraternity, and was an enthusiastic investor. He loved to tinker and could repair anything. He and Barbara enjoyed summers with family at their cottage on Cayuga Lake, which had been in the family for generations. Jim lived his life to the end with equanimity, resolve, caring, and humor.

Math was a native language Jim was effortlessly fluent in and loved to share. He won numerous math awards in high school, including one for a computer he built in 1961, composed of ¼ mile of wire and over 1,000 electronic parts, which could add and subtract numbers up to 10 million. He taught graduate E.E. math courses at the University of Rochester, and one was so popular it was changed from an elective to a required course. In recent years he changed lives by tutoring inmates of the Monroe County Jail.

He is predeceased by his loving wife Barbara Phillips Minor and parents David P. and Christine C. Minor. He will be immensely missed by his son Thomas (Mehrnoush) Minor of Boulder, Colorado (grandchildren Alexander and Amelia), daughter Christina (Jim) Kolberg of Brighton (grandchildren Andrew and Krista), brothers David (Joann) Minor and Paul (Judy Bennett) Minor, brother-in-law Andrew Phillips of Costa Rica, and many cousins.

There will be no public gathering. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his name to NYFOA or Alzheimer’s Association. Arrangements by the Alvah Halloran & Son Funeral Home.