Alice May Barron

Alice was a jazzy lady.

You may however, remember her as a loyal friend with a quick welcoming smile. Or, the Alice who loved to sketch, and sometimes painted landscapes of the Collegiate Peaks that surrounded Alice and Jim’s second home in Buena Vista, Colorado. Maybe you enjoyed a hot fudge sundae with her, because ice cream was a daily obsession. Since Alice loved to read, you may have been diving into a classic novel with her, as a member of one of the two book clubs she juggled on her calendar.

No doubt you encountered her planning her day around cheering on “my boys” of Jayhawk Basketball.

Jim and Alice were season ticket holders for decades. In a slippage of loyalty, they sent their three sons to Kansas State University – Jim had to make sure they could get jobs. But what Alice loved most, was to celebrate and cheer on those three sons in whatever they did. Whether it was little league baseball, painful piano recitals, steamy swim meets, cringe worthy Jr. High wrestling, band concerts, and dozens of track meets, no matter where in eastern Kansas, Alice was there. Cheering on her boys.

However, to really know Alice, you would know she was a toe tapper. Keeping time as she played her saxophone, clarinet, or piano. She and her older sister Barbara, grew-up in the loving care of their grandparents and aunts, in northern Kansas. That’s where Alice’s love of music thrived. As a member of the Clay Center City Band, she thrilled summertime audiences with big band and jazz selections from the Clay Center Municipal Band Shell in Dexter Park (Doc Severson performed on that same stage in 2010). Then as a freshmen playing in the Stephens College Orchestra, Alice once performed with the St. Louis Symphony at the famous Powell Concert Hall in St. Louis. The music took on a new tune after transferring to KU where Alice met Jim Barron, the Wichita tenor. They married after their junior year in 1954. By the time Alice was 25, she had three boys under three. Her performances were then limited to the living room piano while the boys took afternoon naps.

On this sunny April morning, Alice joined a great multitude as part of the Heavenly chorus singing “Hallelujah, For God Almighty reigns!” She believed Jesus took her punishment on the cross and rose from the grave to give her life, so now she is part of the amazing choir praising him for eternity. Yep, Alice is a jazzy lady, toe-tapping in Heaven with no more pain, no more tears.

Alice is survived by her three sons: Dayne Barron of Medford, Oregon, his wife Sigrid, and son James; Greg Barron of Alma, Kansas, his wife Karen, and daughters Shawnee (Will), Cheyenne (John), and Sierra (Alex); and Cory Barron of St. Louis, Missouri, his wife Marlene and daughters Abbi and Grace. Alice also has three great-grandchildren; Sailor, Chilly, and Alice. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Barron (2015), and her sister Barbara Kay Thorpe Alexander of Midlands, Texas.

Cremation is planned, and there are no services at this time.