You meet a lot people as you go through life.
You make a lot of “acquaintances”.
You build a lot of “relationships”.
But from my experience – you make very few FRIENDS.
Dick Barron was my friend.
Dick was someone I Trusted. Absolutely and Completely.
And he trusted me – which meant a lot to me.
He was someone I Respected.
He was someone I could Confide in, Commiserate with, and Laugh with.
He was someone I Cared about and someone who I know Cared about me.
I feel blessed to have had a friend like Dick Barron – and I’m honored that the family has asked me to say a few words about him today.
I had the privilege of knowing and working with Dick Barron for over 25 years.
We worked together. We traveled together. We celebrated the victories together. And we walked through some valleys together.
As I was jotting down some thoughts for this afternoon’s service some words came to my mind as I was thinking about Dick.
The first word that came to my mind was Laughter.
Dick Barron was FUN to be with. I always looked forward to our time together. HE BRIGHTENED MY LIFE!
The next word that came to me was SUPPORTIVE. Dick was always there when I needed him. He taught me to be a SERVENT LEADER. To look for ways to HELP my team – not manage them. To make them better. To help them grow and develop. I am a living example of Dick Barron’s school of leadership. There is a direct link between the success I have had in my career to the years that I spent working for and with Dick Barron.
Some other words that came to my mind were:
HEART – Dick cared. About his team. About his customers. About his friends. His industry. And about his family.
DIRECT – You didn’t ask Dick a direct question if you didn’t want a direct answer. I admired that.
PROFESSIONAL. Dick had tremendous CREDIBILITY. – I have never seen anyone any better in front of a customer. HE COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE! And did!
Dick was also a TEACHER. – Truth be known, most of what I know about what I do for a living (and a lot of things about just being a good person and a good man) I learned from Dick Barron.
But Dick was also a STUDENT. He taught me to be a Student of The Game. To Always Be Learning. And Improving. Dick instilled a passion in me for Continuous Improvement that I have tried to instill within the teams that I have led ever since.
I also thought of the word WITTY. Dick had a way of painting a visual picture with words. An example would be when he would talk about “getting on the same side of the table with the customer”. What he was really saying was that we could design a better program if we were working in a collegial environment with the customer which Dick was able to create more often than not.
Another phrase I thought of was TEAM BUILDER. Dick helped me understand how to build a successful TEAM.
I also thought of the words HUSBAND and FATHER. When we were on the road together the windshield or dinner conversations always made their way back to FAMILY.
And the last word I thought of was PROUD.
PROUD of his military service.
PROUD of his career.
PROUD of his family
But the thing that means the most to ME – is that Dick Barron was proud of ME.
(I don’t think he ever knew how much that meant to me.)
Dick made me better because I didn’t want to let him down – I wanted him to be proud of me
For those of you that know me – you know I don’t worry too much about what most people think. But I cared what Dick thought. Deeply. And – I think that says about all there is to say about how much I loved and respected Dick Barron.
I’ve lost a few people in my life that took a little piece of my heart with them.
My Mom.
My Father-in-Law.
Jim Neal – another colleague from “back in the day”
And now Dick Barron.
But if I can say just a word to the family.
I know this is hard.
I know this is difficult.
But I think I know Dick well enough to know that if he could – he would tell you not to shed too many tears for him.
He had a good life and he enjoyed life. He would want you to do the same
The only thing Dick might be worried about is us – So I think we should try and leave here today and instead of mourning Dick Barron – let’s celebrate his life and be thankful for the memories.
I know that’s what Dick would want.
Randy R. Ledbetter