Barrie White: A Tribute

Barrie White with author, Vicki Schuch, Kristina Mowers of Recruiter Network

When you scroll down the list of members of the Recruiter Network of Southeast Wisconsin, two names jump out at you: James Brown and Barrie White.
While neither person is the famous singer of the same name, both are outstanding members of the community that I'm proud to know. This is a story about one of them.

Barrie White was working in his back office at Denny's when I came calling on him to buy some recruitment advertising back in 2001.
While most of my appointments back then usually lasted 30 minutes, this meeting took double that because Barrie and I talked about everything except advertising.
He did buy an advertising package and a few days later I happened to see him at a job fair.
Even though the job fair was not officially over, every company had left early. He was the last company still taking applications as the job fair ended and had a long line of applicants waiting to talk to him.

Even though he was busy he took a minute to talk to me.
He said he liked the ads I created for Denny's and that they were working well.
I asked him why he was the only company still at the fair.
"I always stay until the end of these fairs," he said.
"All the other companies leave early but what about those people who can't get here until later because they're working, in school, have to wait for childcare or transportation?
They took the time to come to the job fair and deserve the chance
to see some employers too, and I've found a lot of good employees by staying till the end because there are no other companies for them to apply to."

He was too busy to talk more so I left.
At the time I didn't think of him as anything other than a client, albeit a fun client.
Therefore it was a big surprise when I saw him ten days later at my dad's funeral.
He didn't know my father. He didn't know anyone at the funeral. He barely knew me, and yet he took the time to come to talk to me and my mom.
I was very honored by that act.
He was the only client of mine that attended (to be fair I wasn't expecting ANY clients to come)
and it was a complete surprise and I was very humbled by his act of compassion.
I thanked him and asked why he decided to stop by.
His exact words to me were, "I thoroughly enjoyed our meeting and talking to you and I've come to see you as more of a friend rather than a sales guy."

Barrie stuck by those words in the years since. He not only supported me in my career changes, he took the time to help hundreds of others find their next position, even though companies weren't giving him a second look for positions he was clearly qualified for after Denny's downsized. He never complained about being passed over by those companies.
He took it as a sign to continue to help others. He was the pastor for a local Korean Baptist church where he not only strengthened that community's faith, but also helped new immigrants acclimate to America.

He was a very active member of 40 Plus where he was always helping to find speakers, reach out to new members, or willing to help other job seekers with advice.
40Plus-Southeastern-Wisconsin


He was also active as the long time secretary of the Recruiter Network of Southeastern Wisconsin, having been part of the group almost since the beginning in 1997. 
Recruiter-Network-Southeast-WI 
As the group always wanted to keep an informal coffee klatch feeling to the meetings, Barrie would always ask three questions at the beginning of the meetings:
Is there anyone getting married?
Anyone pregnant?
Anyone newly dating someone?
While they may not seem like appropriate questions for a business meeting of recruiting professionals, they broke the ice, made the meetings more relaxed, and served as a showcase for Barrie's quick wit. This often led to he and I having Abbott & Costello type comedy bits for the entertainment of the group as we played off each others joking banter.
Barrie often joked that he was "railroaded" into being secretary for the group because no one would run against him in the elections.
Actually no one wanted to fill his shoes, because we couldn't.

As the years went on he declared himself retired, yet continued to help other job seekers in any way he could, mostly through groups like 40 Plus and their events as he served as one of the board members. As his health declined he still continued to help other job seekers who were part of that group.

One time he magically appeared at my office in Menomonee Falls.
He had attended a networking meeting and was on his way home when he felt dizzy and short of breath.
He saw my office and stopped in to see if I was there. He was worried that he would need medical help and didn't want to be driving if that indeed was the case.
We talked for 45 minutes while he recovered his breath.
It was a fun session of listening to his good stories about cars, living in New York, previous jobs he had, and people he had helped.
A few days later he found out about his heart problems.

We saw Barrie less and less at meetings over the following year.
Eventually we got him back to a Recruiter Network meeting where he announced he and his wife, Clara, were moving to Rochester, New York, so he could spend time as much time as he could with his grand kids. Once again he was thinking of others.

Clara you have my deepest sympathies, and those of all of us who knew him.
Barrie you will be missed.
As I told you Barrie when you came to that last Recruiter Network meeting, I'm glad you told me what you did at my dad's funeral, because I also see you as more than a client.
You indeed are a friend.
Barrie's LinkedIn Profile

Thank you!
Ev
From one Heck of A Nice Guy to Another...