William Joseph Nacke Fox Barnthouse

Joe was born in Kansas City, Missouri on September 20, 1973. He always believed life was about seeking a special female to love. Joe could always be described as “a very nice guy”. He was balanced, likeable, friendly, open, popular, accepting, and inclusive of all people. He was also a non-judgmental person, a natural leader, fun to be around, good story teller, an extremely gifted athlete as well as gifted as a creative and whimsical artist. He pursued many endeavors: art, design, media, film production, stone import and prospecting companies. A couple of these companies included Thunderhouse Productions and Fox 5.

Joe was passionate about the arts, socializing, and reading as well as outdoor activities: camping, hiking, biking, skiing, motorcycling, and rock hounding. He was elected Study Body President at St. Mary’s Academy Middle School and the Class President numerous times, including high school. From ages eight through fourteen, Joe’s football (quarterback and defensive back), basketball (guard), baseball (short stop, first base, and center fielder), ice hockey, and lacrosse teams were consistently the champions, or runner-up, at AYL, metro, or state levels.

Joe began AYL football as a quarterback and D-back with Coach Joe May's Titans. They won the 8 year-old AYL Metro Area Super Bowl Championship. The following year, Joe continued as a quarterback and D-back with Coach Bill Mara’s Panthers, who won the 9 year-old AYL Metro Area Super Bowl Championship. Some of his other favorite memories include playing guard on the successful Metro-Denver Red Shield youth basketball team during seventh and eighth grade. He enjoyed his teammates, who warmly embraced him as the only suburban player on the team.

During his high school years, Joe enjoyed his time at Arapahoe High School, where he was academically successful, excelling in his Advanced Placement Art classes. He was the starting Varsity quarterback for Arapahoe High School, including in the Colorado State High School 6A championship game. He played guard on the select, Metro Denver basketball team, which won the Colorado State AAU 18-year-old bracket championship.

After completing high school, Joe went on to play quarterback for the Aggies and graduate from University of California, Davis with a Bachelor of Science, having an emphasis in communication, media, and art. He also earned a Master in Fine Arts in Movie Production Design from the American Film Institute. Joe was very close to his brothers, his mother, father and step-mother. He enjoyed watching his son, J. Henry's, sports and outdoor activities; recognizing his athletic ability, intellect and likeability.

Joe is survived by his son, Jaxson Henry; brother, Jonathan Burleigh Barnthouse; brother, James J. Barnthouse; mother, Teresa G. Jackson; father, William Joseph Barnthouse; step-mother, Linda S Olmstead; and many cousins, aunts, and uncles. He is preceded in death by his grandfather, Col. William R. Barnthouse; grandmother, Genevieve (June) L. (Nacke) Barnthouse; grandfather, Elmer J. Jackson; grandmother, Mary (Booth) Jackson; uncle, Joseph Caparros; and uncle, Shariar Shadlu.

A visitation will be held at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary on Thursday, November 14th from 4:00 until 8:00 PM. On Friday, November 15th, there will be a visitation and Funeral Mass at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, beginning at 10:00 AM.

It is appropriate, today, that the altar is filled with people of varied cultures—that was what Joe was all about.

Joe’s spiritual goodness, would consider others before himself: So first of all, Joe would ask all here pray for the health of a most lovely lady struggling with a health issue. She and her family are admired in Joe’s heart for their obvious goodness, thus family members by love.

William Joseph (Joe) Nacke Fox Barnthouse knew the most important factor in life is LOVE. Joe’s “spirituality” and connection to the universe can be expressed in the word, “LOVE”.

Joe loved his brothers J. Burleigh and James beyond description. He was proud of his brothers, James and J. Burleigh (aka J.B., Jon, and Jonathan); Proud of who they are as human beings. He was proud of Burleigh’s and James’s intellect, creativity, and senses-of-humor. He enjoyed being with them, immensely. Watching Joe with his brother’s Burleigh and James was an absolute delight. Joe was loving, patient, and calm when interacting with his son, J. Henry. Joe recognized that J. Henry is intelligent, confident, athletic, and likeable. He encouraged J. Henry to enjoy reading. Joe relished watching J. Henry playing, sports, catching frogs, critters, and enjoying the outdoors. Most of all, Joe hoped J. Henry will do well in school, be a balanced individual, make many friends, and be happy. Joe loved his mother, Terri. He benefited from having an intelligent, caring mother, who read to him and taught him to swim. Joe inherited the most beautiful brown eyes ever created, from his mother.

Joe loved each of his wonderful cousins. He was blessed with four wonderful grandparents: Elmer, Mary, William and Genevieve (June), whom he loved. Joe’s grandfather William, Sr. visited often from Missouri; and Joe visited his grandparents. Grandpa Bill loved to watch Joe’s games. They enjoyed visits with each other and relished traveling together. They shared canoeing, camping, snow skiing, and European travel stories that provide material for numerous comedy skits. Joe highly respected his step-mother, Linda. He knew he had the best step-mother anyone could have. He was always happy and proud to introduce his friends to Linda. He was gentle with his animals. He loved Clancy, Jocko, Tiger, Ace, Nijo, Laddie, Tuco, Nel, Nel’s kittens, Smokey, Butterscotch, Tiger II, Natasha, Burleigh, and Grace.

Clancy, the energetic Irish Setter, was his first pet and defensive tackling back: In Joe’s first home, Clancy would run the inner circular hallway. Joe, the toddler, walking in the hallway, would get smeared, head-on, night-trained by Clancy. No one was ever able to tackle Joe after that.

Joe did not hunt. He would not kill animals. He would walk the fields, while Burleigh and Grace performed their favorite activity: hunting upland game birds. Joe did everything with HEART: Playing; enjoying life with friends; encounters with people; his art; reading; sports; snow skiing; water skiing; travels; football; basketball; lacrosse; ice hockey; scuba diving; motorcycling; biking; hiking; and, camping in the mountains. Coaches praised his “HEART”. He was an extrovert. He made friends with everyone he could. Strangers represented a new opportunity to share and entertain. Parents believe their children are special. Joe was incredibly special to me. Joe was near perfection, in my eyes; from the day he was born and forever. The Creative Force gave Joe more exceptional gifts, talents than usual. Joe’s gifts, talents, accomplishments resulted in his confidence, balance, and his calm leadership skills. Joe was a natural born LEADER, in school, on sports fields, and in life. He was sure of himself; willing to risk. He constantly grew, evolved. He was perceptive. He read people. He wisely read situations. Joe had wisdom. Joe was loyal. He had a beautiful smile -- filled with soul! His hand movements were pure grace.

His foot quickness combined with speed was a wonder to watch. He was a trigger man on a sports field, in the classroom, and where ever he appeared -- he made good things happen. He was a gifted artist: cleaver, unique, creative, and whimsical. He had a boundless sense of humor. Joe was funny. A delight to be around. He was a great story teller. He loved to entertain. He loved to make people laugh.

His family members and friends provided a wealth of material for his comedy bits -- mostly at the expense of his father. He did not want to be a GERBIL on a Gerbil Wheel. He raged against the machine (see the the 1927 German movie, by Fritz Lang, “Metropolis”). Also see the famous, “1984” Apple TV commercial, Joseph was like the hammer thrower, who rebelled against Big Brother fascism -- shattering the TV screen, being watched by robotic-controlled-people. He attempted to help broken people. He constantly asked the smartest attorney he knew to do pro bono work for people in need.

Joe, was evolved. He was “WOK” He was a Progressive Thinker, who believed in “WE THE PEOPLE”. He wanted all people to have: health care, education, housing, and voting rights. To Joe, black lives matter, all lives matter. Joe took a knee with the Bronco player Brandon Marshall, and 49er QB Colin Kaepernick. He was fond of Teddy, Franklin, Jack, Lyndon, Ralph Nader, Barack, and Bernie.

He liked the book, “Mustard Seed”, written by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. He liked the authors Richard Rohr, Ian Fleming, and Joseph Heller. All I want is to see Joseph, his grandparents, other relatives, and his ancestors, again. Joe was a magic combination of: talent, concentration, intelligence, perception, and heart. He brought a positive input to all situations. He was spiritually in tune with nature. Joe enjoyed people. Joe was not judgmental of people. He was accepting of all. Joe offered people DIGNITY.

Love is all that matters! When you leave here, Joseph would like you to accept all people and Love all people.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation be made in Joe’s name to the U. S. Senator Bernie Sander’s Presidential campaign or the no-kill animal shelter and adoption center, Max Fund in Denver, Colorado. Donations for Max Fund can be made at: www.maxfund.org.