Terrel John "T.J." Barlow

T.J. was born in Rochester, New York to Maye and Lewis Barlow. He was their first child and the light of their lives. According to Maye, everybody loved him as little boy. When he was 11 years old he had Rheumatic Fever and his doctor advised the family to move to California. They moved to Glendora, California in 1948 and T.J. improved right away. T.J. continued through school and finished high school early to join the military. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in March 1953 and served his country for 4 years as a Weapon Control System Mechanic, stationed in Georgia. He completed his active duty in April 1957 and was honorably discharged. He continued on as a reservist for the Air Force for another 4 years. He was married to Janie in 1955 when he was 19 years old. They stayed married for 9 years and remained life-long friends. In 1967 he married Marlies and they had 2 children, Stacy and Leslie. He also became Dad to Marlies’ children Michelle and Mike. After he left the military, T.J. was as a car salesman. He surely loved cars so this job was perfect for him at that time. After a few years in the auto business he became an engineer for an Aerospace company, Hughes Aircraft. He would help transport satellites and organize their launches. He helped launch several satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida. He also traveled to China, Russia and South America. T.J. loved his job and dedicated about 35 years of his life to Hughes Aircraft. He retired from the company in the year 2000. When the kids were young, the family went on several trips together. They would take road trips to the Colorado River in their VW bus. They had lots of good times taking these trips. They also made some trips across the country all the way to Florida. T.J. made a special platform for the VW bus and the kids would hang out in back together enjoying their family time. There were also years when they spent the entire summer in Cocoa Beach, Florida while T.J. worked at Cape Canaveral launching a satellite. In 1978 the family moved to El Segundo. They stayed there for 22 years. By this time the kids were all grown and T.J. had retired. In 2002, Stacy moved to Murrieta and T.J. followed her and her family out here because he really liked this area. After T.J. retired he really started enjoying his free time. He loved to go RV camping, so he bought an RV and started doing some traveling. He took trips to Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Northern California and visited several National Parks. He loved it! He really enjoyed being in nature and getting to see all the different animals and landscapes. He also enjoyed going to car shows. He loved all kinds of cars, especially classic cars. He could spend hours looking at them. This is something he did with the family as well. In New Mexico, he was able to attend the Hot Air Balloon festival and he absolutely loved it! He would talk about the festival often and how he would love to go back there. T.J. was content with having a simple life. For him less was more. He was very generous and thoughtful and truly enjoyed helping his family with whatever they needed. He was a family man that always wanted to be present at family functions and get togethers. He truly loved his children and 4 grandchildren and would always have a big smile on his face when he saw them. He was very proud of all of them and would brag about them often. Their happiness was his happiness. T.J. lived a fulfilled and blessed life. His family has been blessed by his love and dedication to them. He is celebrated for the man he was and will be forever cherished.