Jeremy Kim Barriault

Jeremy Kim Barriault, 41 years of age, of Denver, Colorado, passed away on December 8, 2012. Hours of Visitation will be held on Monday, December 10, from 4pm to 6pm. On Tuesday, Decemeber 11, from 8am to 6pm. On Wednesday, December 12, from 8am to 6pm. And on Thursday, December 13, from 8am to 5pm. Hours of Visitation will occur at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 11150 East Dartmouth Avenue, Aurora, Colorado. A Rosary will be held at 6:00 PM followed by a Funeral Mass at 7:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (December 10, 11, 12) all at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 11150 East Dartmouth Avenue, Aurora, Colorado. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, December 14, 2012 at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 19099 East Floyd Avenue, Aurora, Colorado. A Committal Service will occur at 11:30 AM on Monday, December 17, 2012 at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Denver, Colorado. Please share memories and leave condolences by signing the guestbook. Jeremy's Eulogy Good morning everyone! I'm Jeremy's youngest sister, Stacie. I know Jeremy would want me to thank all of you for coming… so ""Thank You."" And the reason you're here is because Jeremy touched you or your life in some way… big or small. Jeremy did small things in big ways and big things in small ways. Jeremy was 4½ years old when my Mom and Dad adopted him from Korea. He arrived December 28th, 1975 with the given name of Kim Dong Won. Mom and Dad already had tree biological children: Darren who was 6, Shelly who was 3, and me who was 2. I was an ""oops' child, but I guess they felt the need to even out the genders 2 boy, 2 girls. You know fighting as a kid has to be an even playing field. Although I have to say, fighting with Jeremy as a kid felt like anything but even. I'll just say it was rare to never that I ever won a fight with him… whether it be playing mercy, knuckles, wrestling, or even playing checkers, chess, or even to this day… dominoes. He is the king of dominoes. For all of you who have ever played dominoes with him, you know what I'm talking about. So one of my earliest memories of Jeremy is him being the winner of the clean-plate club… and of everyone else's plates too. He would devour all of his food and all of his sibling's food that was left as well. At first I thought it stemmed from him coming from an orphanage and I'm sure never having enough food to eat when he was little. But let me tell you, it never stopped. Into adulthood, Jeremy could pack the food away like he was gearing up to a Sumo wrestler. We always wondered where it all went. He was never overweight a day in his life. One year after we were all grown and some of us were married and had kids, we went on an Alaskan cruise. Jeremy shared a room with Grandma D.. We all met in the ships dining room for dinner… Mom, Dad, Darren, Sherry, Nikki, Justin, Shelly & Mark, me and my husband at the time, and Jeremy and Grandma D. Jeremy ordered a few appetizers, 2 or 3 entrees, and desserts. All for him… not to share. If you're ever been on a cruise, you know you don't leave dinner feeling hungry. And when he got back to the room he was sharing with Grandma D., he said ""I hope you're hungry, because I just ordered a pizza."" Amazing! That boy could eat. It was a good thing Ramen Noodles were cheap growing up, huh Mom and Dad? He loved Ramen Noodles… and to eat them with chopsticks… which leads me to another memory of him… here are some words of wisdom he would tell you… ""Never run with chopsticks in your mouth."" Why? Because if you fall they puncture the roof of your mouth. Ow! Yes, stitches in the room of your mouth make it a bummer to eat. So here were a few of his favorite foods… Gyros, supreme topped pizza, noodles of all kinds, kim-chee which stunk up the whole house when he ate it, and ice cream… specifically, cookies and cream. Maybe the reason he never gained a pound was because he was very active … active enough to fall off the monkey bars at grade school and crack open his chin. Another ER visit with stitches. The scar is still there to prove it. We grew up in the country just outside of town and we had a few acres to play on and I remember one afternoon my parents had gone to a neighbors to look at their pool and you know what they say happens when the cats away… the mice will play… will play a friendly game of cops and robbers… That particular year we had two Hmong kids living with us so they could learn better English and Sia (the girl) had taken the BB gun and shot Jeremy in the neck. Of course it was an accident… who keeps a loaded gun in the house anyway?... unless you have blackbirds and blue jays and squirrels at your bird feeder all day long. Another trip to the ER room… the BB remains in his neck to this day… the surgery was too risky to take it out. Growing up in the country we also found out Jeremy was allergic to Poison Ivy, Sumac, and bee stings. He had gotten stung one day and broke out into hives. I remember Mom had him sprawled out on the living room floor just having him lie still with his body covered in hives. Later that night he went to play his baseball game and hit a homerun. The coach made a comment that maybe he should get stung more often… he seemed to play better. I believe that was another ER trip but not until After the baseball game. We also had a go-cart growing up. Fun little toy… a little dangerous if you're wearing scarves while riding it… they get caught in the engine and it tends to choke you… OK… that was me… not Jeremy… but he was the one who failed to set the brake on it and let it roll into our friend's Corvette and put a nice hole in the door. A fun AND dangerous AND expensive little go cart. I don't recall who paid for those repairs. But I do know who paid for repairs of a rolled truck that he had just taken insurance off from because it was all paid for. Jeremy was on his way home for Christmas one year when the weather had turned bad and he hit an icy patch and rolled his truck. He ended up in the ER once again, with a fashionable neck brace to wear for a few months. Very lucky he was alive, all things considered. Jeremy was a fabulous soccer player… and for those that really knew him, knew he was a leftie… so was always surprising opposing teams when he'd kick with his left foot. HE played tight end and running back in football. And of course, I'd almost say you didn't know Jeremy at all if you didn't know who his favorite football team was. I'll give you a hint… he grew up in Wisconsin. Jeremy lived for a full month after the Dr.'s said he should have passed… and that was my joke… that he was waiting to see if the Packers were going to beat the Vikings and make it to the Super Bowl this year. He loved the Packers and watching them play… and if you weren't being quiet when the game was on you were banished from the room. He was proud to be part owner of the only team in the league that's owned by their fans. I believe in his fantasy football that he was playing this year he may have even gotten Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback. Even his email address started out JB4GB. Like athletes, Jeremy was disciplined. In the military he was a Pathfinder… he rappelled down the rope and was one of the first ones in to explore the enemy territory… and one of the last ones out. He didn't like to fly, but loved to jump out of airplanes… he was in the 101st Airborne Infantry. I remember him telling me the story when he was trying to become a Ranger in the military and he had been caught sleeping. He had fallen asleep while cleaning his gun. Although I'm not sure how they knew he was asleep because if you had ever seen him sleep, he slept with his eyes open (or at least ½ open). It was kind of creepy. The military liked him enough to try and recruit him a 2nd time which he declined. I remember him telling me he got out of a speeding ticket one time down in Tennessee where he was stationed. I believe he had just gotten out of the military and had been pulled over by a female police officer and he was addressing her and answering questions with ""yes, Mam. No, Mam."" She asked if he was in the military. When he said yes, she said that he was free to go. And free he was… He went to school to be an actuary. He graduated from MTSU(Mid Tennessee State University.) He was very good with math and numbers. I remember him helping me with my math homework many times. In high school he was known as ""The Bookie."" Mom got a call from the principal saying that Jeremy had been caught gambling at school (and yes, it was with the vice principal's son, no less). He ended up working for the United States Post Office… highly encouraged by his mother who had also worked for the post office. I know many of you that are here today are friends of Jeremy's from the post office and I wanted to say a special thank you to all who have made Jeremy a part of your family there. I understand that Jeremy was sought out by many at the post office… that he had a reputation for being a good Union Steward who could get things done with the right outcome. I was amazed when I came to visit Jeremy how many post office coworker friends he had that were dropping by daily to see him… Ray especially, thanks for being Jeremy's coach on what he should be expecting to go through with the different stages of cancer… we saw the angry side there a few times, huh? And I know a few have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help him out with paperwork applications and getting his mail… thanks Zack. I'm sure there are many others… I know there were fundraisers and vacation time donations… and a 41st birthday party that was thrown… it was all very much appreciated by Jeremy and us… his family. It was comforting to know that every time I had to leave him to go back to my own family that he wasn't going to be left alone. And Kim, this brings me to you. His wife, his lover, and friend… his fishing and crawfish catching partner. Married for 5 years. Jeremy met Kim at the barber shop. Kim cut his hair… I'm sure it was a buzz… that was usually his look. I remember Jeremy being home to visit one time and his phone rang about every 10 minutes I was with him… it was Kim… they were just dating then… he said it was his ""girlfriend."" I said ""Does she know you're just out with your sister… she doesn't need to worry."" Jeremy never had many girlfriends and rarely dated, so I think we were all shocked when we heard that he had gotten married. Surely it was an April Fool's Joke that he so often liked to play on us. One April Fool's day he called to tell us that he had become an Emu farmer. But no, this was no joke. He and Kim had gotten married. I'm happy that Jeremy had a chance to find love in his life before dying… and Kim, I will be forever grateful to you for staying by Jeremy's side the whole time he was sick… the many nights you slept on the cot next to his hospital bed so he didn't have to be afraid and alone. I know it meant a lot to him. You were truly his ""Baby."" This brings me on to Jeremy's other love of life… fishing. I remember going down to the Kinnikinnick River not far from our house growing up with Jeremy and he was teaching me how to fish. I had snagged one by the eye and brought it in. I think he was less that amused that I had caught it by the eye, but the fish was deemed worthy enough to be a ""keeper."" When I emailed my Aunt Marie that Jeremy had passed away, she replied that she was sure Grandma was in heaven with sugar cookies awaiting him and that Grandpa had his fishing poles in hand waiting for him. Our Grandfather was also an avid fisherman. Jeremy and Kim made many friends fishing… packing up his truck and making a 3 hour trip to Lake McCoughnahay, Nebraska. I know he's taught others there how to be better fisherman as well. I wonder if it was really about fishing… or about the friends. Jeremy was an artist… a jack-of-all-trades. He taught himself how to tie his own flies for fly fishing, he built at least two retaining walls that I know of… one for my parent's flower gardens and one for my Aunt Marie and Uncle Al's house. He was a very good sketch artist and did some great looking Picasso look-a-likes with the oil pastels. He also did self-taught Origami paper folding. He was incredibly talented. He did big things in little ways and little things in big ways. Jeremy, your memories will always live inside all of us, you will be missed dearly… thank you for your last words of wisdom to me, which was to ""Just Love."" They are simple, but true. So family and friends of Jeremy, I say to you, ""Just Love.""