J Larre Barrett
November 20, 1938 – May 27, 2019
J Larre Barrett, 80, left this life on May 27, 2019 after a short illness. He was born November 20, 1938 as the 4th and youngest child of Lula P. (Dude) Barrett and Rex P. Barrett in Columbia, Missouri. He loved his hometown and was a dedicated Boy Scout reaching the level of Eagle Scout and attended a national Jamboree. Larre graduated from Hickman High School in 1956 where he was the President of the Senior Class, active with the Verse Choir and many other school organizations. He attended the University of Missouri and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and developed life-long friendships with his brothers. He graduated from the School of Journalism in 1960 and obtained a Masters in Journalism in 1962.
Larre was immediately employed in Chicago by NBC-TV and he later moved to ABC-TV in Sports Sales. In 1978, ABC-TV promoted him to New York, eventually becoming VP, of Sports Sales. In 1989 he moved to CBS-TV to become Sr. VP, Olympic Sales and Marketing. He finished his career as Sr. VP of sales for start-up Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic). Because of his position, he traveled the country and the world attending many of the sports events he was involved with, including several Olympic Games, all of golf’s Majors, Super Bowls, World Series and numerous Kentucky Derbys.
He was an avid and skilled golfer and played in many tournaments throughout the country, winning Club Championships in every Country Club he was a member. In 1998 he qualified for the US Senior Amateur – an accomplishment that fulfilled one of his life-long goals. He never lost his enthusiasm for Missouri Athletics and followed the Football and Basketball teams passionately.
He met Lou Ann Elmore on a blind date while a freshmen at Mizzou. Larre and Lou Ann dated throughout college, were married in 1962 and had two sons, William (Bill) and Christopher (Chris). They were married 54 years before her passing in 2015. In October 2016, he remarried to Elizabeth Harris Kruse, also a Columbia, MO native, Hickman High classmate and friend.
He is survived by brother Barre and wife Nancy, his son William and wife Erin and granddaughters Caelyn and Gillian, son Chris and wife Irene, and wife Elizabeth.
Services will be held at 10:30am Friday June 7th at St. Anselm Church, 530 South Mason Rd, St. Louis, MO 63141. A reception at Country Club of Missouri, 1300 Woodrail Ave, Columbia, MO 65203 will follow at 3pm.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Diabetes Association.
