View source for J. L. Tarr

'''James Lee Tarr''' (November 21, 1919 &ndash; February 27, 2008) was a professional Scouter for 43 years who served as the seventh [[Chief Scout Executive]] of the [[Boy Scouts of America]] from 1979 to 1984 .

==Personal life==
Tarr was born in [[Bartlesville, Oklahoma]].  He joined the BSA in 1931 and attained the rank of [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] in 1935.<ref>{{cite journal |title=James L. Tarr 1919—2008 |journal=[[Scouting (magazine)|Scouting]] |publisher=Boy Scouts of America |issue=May–June 2008 |url=http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0805/d-news.html |accessdate=2008-05-17}}</ref>  He attended [[Oklahoma State University|Oklahoma A&M University]] and graduated in 1941 with a degree in [[business administration]].  He married his wife, Margret in 1941.

Tarr served in the [[United States Navy Reserve|United States Naval Reserve]] from 1943 to 1946 as a supply officer, serving in the South Pacific.  He retired in 1965 with the rank of lieutenant commander. Jim was a member of the Rotary Club of Dallas in Dallas, Texas and served on both the Club Board of Directors and Foundation Board of Trustees.

Tarr died in [[Dallas, Texas]] on February 27, 2008 from cancer.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/obituaries/stories/DN-tarrob_02met.ART0.Central.Edition1.46dff28.html |title=Longtime Boy Scouts employee James Lee Tarr dies at 88 |journal=The Dallas Morning News |accessdate=2008-03-11}}</ref>

==Scouting==
Tarr became a professional Scouter in 1941 and worked in the local council in [[San Marcos, Texas]].    He later served as [[Scout executive]] of the [[Circle Ten Council]] covering North Central [[Texas]] as well as a portion of [[Oklahoma]].

He was awarded the [[Distinguished Eagle Scout Award]] in 1979, the [[Order of the Arrow]] [[Distinguished Service Award (OA)|Distinguished Service Award]] and the [[Cliff Dochterman Award]] from [[Rotary International]].  He was also awarded the [[Bronze Wolf]], the only distinction of the [[World Organization of the Scout Movement]], awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.

==See also==
{{Portal|Scouting}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-npo|bsa}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Harvey L. Price]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Chief Scout Executive]]|years=1979-1984}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Ben H. Love]]}}
{{End}}

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              = Tarr, J.L.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH     = November 21, 1919
| PLACE OF BIRTH    =
| DATE OF DEATH     = February 27, 2008
| PLACE OF DEATH    =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarr, J.L.}}
{{Scout-stub}}
{{US-activist-stub}}

[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:Chief Scout Executives]]
[[Category:Distinguished Eagle Scouts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award]]
[[Category:People from Bartlesville, Oklahoma]]