LANCASTER — Lancaster High School Athletic Director Pam Bosser remembers former principal Lee Barr as a soft-spoken man who cared about his students. “He was a disciplinarian,” she said. “He ran a pretty tight ship, but the students respected him.” Barr, 81, died of natural causes Sunday while going to church with his wife, his daughter Karen Curtiss said. He served as principal from 1979 to 1986 and also was a math, history and English teacher. Barr also was a track coach at Liberty Union in the 1960s and was an Ohio High School Athletic Association track official for 47 years, including last year. He served in the military before starting his education career in 1958. He had three children and four grandchildren and considered track, fishing, Ohio State sports, the Cincinnati Reds and his grandchildren as his interests, Curtiss said. “His grandchildren were his pride and joy,” she said. Curtiss said her father was fair but had expectations of people and insisted they met those expectations. Bosser knew Barr for a long time, as she was a senior in 1985. She said Barr would often officiate Golden Gale track events. “He preferred the field events,” Bosser said. “He always did it for the right reasons, and it wasn’t for the money.” She said Barr acted as a mentor to younger officials and also worked Ohio High School Athletic Association state events. Lancaster school board president Amy Eyman also was a student when Barr was principal. She worked as an assistant in his office during her junior and senior years. “He was a very, very nice man,” Eyman said. “He was very authoritative in the principal role, but he was really, really nice. He laid down the law, though, and you knew right and wrong.” Lancaster girls track coach Terry Oehrtman knew Barr since 1970. “I’m kind of in shock to hear about this,” he said of Barr’s death. “I will miss him. I liked his personality. He was a fair individual. I can’t remember him ever talking unfairly about someone. He was someone you could trust.” Oehrtman said he would sometimes ask Barr for advice in dealing with other coaches or students. He also said Barr knew the sport of track and field well. “An official in any sport, not just track, must understand the rules of the sport and know how to administer them fairly,” Oehrtman said. “Knowledge of the sport is important, and you must understand the rules. But you must also know how to administer the rules to the athletes, and Lee knew how to do that well.” Former Lancaster schools superintendent John Baughman worked with Barr in 1986. He said being a math teacher made Barr a precise person. “He was precise about everything,” Baughman said. “In those days you had to do student scheduling by hand, and Lee handled that for us.” He said Barr had a dry sense of humor. “You could tell when he was trying to put one over on you because he’d have a grin on,” Baughman said. Baughman had not seen Barr in years but ran into him at the YMCA about two weeks ago on the walking track. “It was good to see him,” Baughman said. “Since we hadn’t seen each other in so many years, he didn’t recognize me at first.” Liberty Union Middle School athletic director Scott Williamson also is a former Lion track coach and said Barr left a challenge for him. “He had some great teams around 1967 and 1968,” he said. “My job as coach was to beat the records that were on the record board, and that was doggone hard. Some of the records Lee’s teams set still stand today.” Visitation for Barr will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Halteman-Fett & Dyer Funeral Home, 436 N. Broad St. Funeral services are Saturday at 10 a.m. at the funeral home, with visitation at 9 a.m. Barr will be interred at Maple Grove Cemetery. jbarron@lancaster eaglegazette.com 740-681-4340 Twitter: @JeffDBarron

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2017 Athletics Hall of Fame inductees. Congratulations to these honorees:
Class of 2017
Richard Blackstone (1966)
Dan Johnson (Coach)
Lisa Barr (1979)
Madison Lawhorn (2010)
Jake Kemmerer (2007)