Barr Eldridge Quist Jr.
NEPTUNE - Barr Eldridge Quist Jr. passed away peacefully on April 8th at his home in Neptune, NJ, aged 81. He leaves behind his two sons, Kevin and Bert, daughter in laws, Hillary and Dawn, and his two grandchildren, Cole and Dax. Barr also leaves two sisters and brothers in law, Kris and Steve Christensen and Laurie and Keith Roark and their wonderful families.
Barr grew up surrounded by his extended family on the Quist farmstead in the Cottonwood/Holiday area south of Salt Lake City, Utah. From an early age he was driven to be self-sufficient. Whether it was as nine-year-old growing corn and watermelon and then towing his crop in his wagon door-to-door honing his salesmanship skills or working his way through the University of Utah as a gas station attendant, ski instructor and finally as a Kinney Shoe man where he worked for over 35 years, Barr was independent and industrious.
Barr was predeceased by the love of his life, Sheila. Barr and Sheila Rae Nisbet were married on March 31, 1963. During their 50 years of marriage, they lived in many places as Barr moved up at Kinney, finally settling in Locust, NJ. Together they created a loving and supportive family and demonstrated to their boys the importance of being kind and accepting, and the importance of taking care of family and friends.
Barr relished a good day fishing, a great ride in a convertible no matter the season or temperature, a good party and traveling, but he most loved time with his family, especially his two grandchildren. For those who knew him, it didn’t take them long to see through his gruff exterior to find an authentically nice guy, but certainly never one to shy away from embellishing the truth in favor of a good story. But at heart Barr was really a modest man, never looking to be fussed over, never complaining, and wanting to take care of everyone all the time. He just loved people. No matter where you went everyone knew Poppy. He believed that it was important to have fun every day and tried to live up to that, bringing others along with him.
Life is quite short when you fill it up to the brim, live every day to its potential, never take it for granted, love your family dearly and be sure to have some fun every day.
He is missed tremendously by his family who will celebrate his life privately. Contributions in his name can be made to Fulfill Food Bank of New Jersey (fulfillnj.org) or to any place where you’d like to send a smile.