Jason A. Barr

Jason A. Barr, age 43, died peacefully on July 21, 2026, from a brain bleed.

Jason was born February 12, 1983, in Perham, MN, and was adopted by Dean Barr and Kristina Barr-Zoerb in April 1983. After a near-drowning in April 1986, Jason spent four months at St. Paul Children’s and Gillette Children’s Hospitals. While he would never speak or walk again, Jason spent the next four decades building community and making friends.

In the years immediately after his accident, several dozen community volunteers rotated through Jason’s home and his school classrooms to help with his therapy. Over the last forty years, Jason’s many caregivers managed his physical needs, shared their talents and passions with him, and became a part of his family.

It was Jason whose needs brought the expertise of Jennifer York into his home. She quickly became a fierce advocate for Jason and a thoughtful advisor to his family. Eventually, she became his beloved stepmother.

Jason attended Forest Lake Area Schools which, early on, prompted the community to question whether Jason’s needs would take time away from the education of his classmates. But thanks to open-minded and creative teachers, Jason brought out the best in his peers, who felt honored when they had the chance to help Jason or push his wheelchair. Some students were uninterested in doing their own work, but would gladly help Jason complete the same assignment. At the end of his first-grade year, his teacher remarked that Jason’s presence had allowed her to get more teaching done than any other year in her long career.

Throughout his life, Jason traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico (including MANY trips to Disney World) and no matter where he traveled he always encountered someone who knew him and was so excited to see him.

Jason continued to give back to his community in death, as he was an organ donor.

Jason is survived by his father, Dean Barr; his mother, Kristina Barr-Zoerb; his stepmother, Jennifer York-Barr; two brothers, Justin Barr and Sam York (Laura); and two nephews, Caleb and Simon.

A funeral service will be held for Jason on Thursday, July 30, at 11 a.m., at Elim Lutheran Church, 20971 Olinda Trail N., Scandia, MN 55073. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Elim Lutheran Church, 20971 Olinda Trail N., Scandia, MN 55073, or Gillette Children’s Hospital, 200 E. University Ave., St. Paul, MN 55101.