Obituary of Elbert Eugene Barber

Elbert Eugene Barber was better known as Jack Barber. Jack was born June 23, 1925, in the all-Black town of Red Bird, Oklahoma, to Rev. Lewis Eugene Barber and Anna Sharp. Jack possessed an “Indian Card” certifying his Native American heritage with both his grandmothers being full-blooded Native Americans: Lulu Peters – Choctaw; Louisa Easter - Creek. Jack’s early years in Red Bird were on a farm, and under the strong influence of both his maternal grandfather Edward Erving “Papa” Sharp, and paternal grandfather Rev. Elbert Barber, they made a strong impression on him and contributed to how he chose to live his life. He was independent, resourceful, responsible, and disciplined. Jack later moved to Kansas City, Kansas where he attended Northeast Junior High School and Sumner High School. He graduated from Sumner in 1943. Jack was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944 where he served in the Adjutant General’s Office in San Francisco, California. After completing his military service, he returned to Kansas City, KS and found employment in the U.S. Post Office. In a very short time, he realized that he wanted to work for himself, so he left the Post Office and became a barber. He began cutting hair in the barber shop at 5th and Quindaro Blvd. below the drug store on the northeast corner. This was the beginning of his numerous business ventures. It was during his early years as a barber at 5th & Quindaro that he married Flossie Mae Simmons, also of Kansas City, KS, on January 19, 1947. Jack married well in that all of Kansas City knew how much Flossie loved Jack, and much of what Jack was able to accomplish in life can be attributed to her undying love and support of his efforts. Although Jack worked hard, he eventually realized that despite being a fast and good barber, he could only cut so many heads in one day, which limited the amount of money he could make. After a number of years of planning and saving, he opened his own barbershop at 7th & Quindaro Blvd. in his own building that he had built. The building also included a pool hall and soon after included a walk-up fast-food restaurant and a barbeque restaurant that was operated by his first cousin, Clarence Glass (now deceased). The pool hall was later converted to Jack’s Grocery store and a car wash was added to the property thereafter. Jack’s Creamery was best known for its foot-long chili dogs that are still talked about to this day. A few of Jack’s other business ventures include a laundromat, an apartment building, a transportation company, import-export negotiations and sales, and numerous investments in other businesses. Jack organized the barbers in the north end as a business association so they could purchase common products in bulk. This orgainizing created the agreement that barbershops are closed on Mondays. He later organized other small businesses to help create the Northeast Business Association. This subsequently gave him the leverage to secure a loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to build and open his own supermarket, “Super Duper”, at 5th & Washington Blvd, in 1971. At that time, it was the largest SBA loan ever made to an individual. This was accomplished with the help of then U.S. Senator Bob Dole. Jack, in addition to being an impeccable provider for his family, he was a wonderful husband and great father. He earned the love and respect of too many people to name. He had a reputation for being able to keep confidences and everyone who knew him knew they could trust him with anything. In addition, people frequently sought his counsel and he was often referred to as the “Godfather”. Although he accomplished so much, he never sought attention or glamour. Jack and Flossie loved to travel and visited every continent except Australia. Their travels were often with close friends Arthur & Jeanette Guliford and publicized in the Call newspaper. They also loved their travel club friends known as the Jolliettes. Jack is survived by his wife of 68 years, Flossie, his sons Zachary and Jacques & daughter in-law Linda, and daughter Anna Camille, granddaughters Amina and Arielle, and grandson Jacques II & his wife Nadeau, and great grandsons Jacques III and Gerard. In addition, he loved and mentored his younger first cousins Anne Elizabeth and Arsbie who he treated like daughter and son and spent a number of years as members of his household. Also surviving him are his brother Lewis, and sisters Juanita, Annice, Pamela and Deborah, his feisty first cousin Betty, honorary family member Octavia, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by three sisters Rhodessa, Greta Roxanne, and Lucille.