Jack S. Barnes' Obituary
Not that the holds Jack Barnes had learned as a wrestler didn’t come in handy occasionally, but the reputation for rough stuff that dogged his full-time profession was, for the most part, undeserved, the “repo man” insisted. “We’ve come a long way from the old image of 300-pound guys who shake people down for their car keys,” the veteran Tulsa repossessor told The Associated Press in 1990. Still, like most in his field, Barnes was never at a loss for a good story if somebody asked, such as the time he had to repossess a herd of 74 horses. Many of them were malnourished, and until they could be auctioned off by the bank, Barnes kept them at his own ranch, where he nursed them back to health. Another time, his assignment was a helicopter. After recovering the craft, Barnes, a certified pilot, flew it himself to his client in Florida. That was the other thing about Barnes, those close to him say: Thanks to a wealth of interests and life experiences, he had an unusually diverse skill-set. A graduate of Rogers High School, Barnes began working for his father as a repossessor in 1956. Taking over the family business when his father died, he went on to become one of the most respected repossessors in the country. But along the way, “Jack of all trades,” as Barnes dubbed himself, also worked, at various times, as a professional wrestler, a flight instructor, a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur who, among other things, started his own advertising firm. He even stepped into the political ring once, running for the state Senate in 1964. Jack Spencer Barnes died Sunday in an ATV accident near his home in rural Wagoner County. He was 73. A memorial service is set for 3 p.m. Friday at Floral Haven Funeral Home in Broken Arrow. Barnes, who grew up in Muskogee, was in high school when he moved to Tulsa. After a stint in the Air Force, he returned to the area, where he soon got into wrestling. In the 1960s, he wrestled professionally, using various names, including “Dr. X” and “The Great Bolo,” and once, as part of a publicity stunt, he wrestled live bears. “When we first met, Jack would tell me these stories about himself, and I’d think ‘Uh-huh. Yeah, sure,’ ” said his wife, Brenda Barnes. “But as you got to know him, you began to realize they were all true.” Cars were his most common jobs, of course. But Barnes also repossessed oil drilling equipment and the occasional oddity, such as the eye-testing machine he once reclaimed from a local optometrist. After becoming an expert in the field, including the complicated legal side, Barnes shared his knowledge. He was executive director and past president of National Finance Adjusters, a nationwide association of repossessors that he represented with the Justice Department. Barnes also wrote about his subject. “The Repossession Process,” one of his three books, is now in its 11th printing. Born with an endless curiosity, he pursued dozens of interests in his spare time. He was an accomplished outdoorsman, marksman, diver and photographer. And, every Friday night at the Broken Arrow Elks Club, he sang karaoke, one of his favorite activities. The former wrestler actually preferred hugs to headlocks, family members say. “He believed everyone needs at least 12 hugs a day to be healthy,” his daughter Shelli Bates said. “He was known as a great hugger.” Barnes’ survivors include his wife, Brenda Barnes; two daughters, Shelli Bates and Leslie Barnes; two sons, Robert Mynheir and Jeff Hilliard; one sister, Nancy Ferguson; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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