After just over six months, you begin to accept it. 

May 26, 2020, Jacob Barmore passed away from stage IV Melanoma at age 38.

The Barmore/Karner household grows stronger not only as individuals, but as a family. The household shares some of their favorite memories. Barmore did so much in the little time he had and made a huge impact.

Daughters Kailey and Bailey Karner grow stronger and more compassionate after Barmore’s passing. Bailey Karner has learned to be kind to everyone she meets because you never know what someone was going through. The three of us (Kailey, Bailey, me/Sierra) never opened up much about it because we didn’t wanna burden anyone with our problems. We feel like in today’s society many might feel as if they are a burden when they open up or talk about what’s going on in life. With that being said, Bailey Karner has grown to be more compassionate and kind to anyone because if they are going through anything she wants them to know it will be okay. 

After experiencing someone so close to you passing away, it almost feels like it was all a dream. After a couple of months though you get used to coming home and not seeing them there. You know in your heart that they are there spiritually but your brain has a hard time comprehending that they aren’t there physically. You often think about all the what-ifs: things you wish you didn’t say and the things you wish you had said. “Jacob’s death made me grow stronger in a way. I know that he wouldn’t want to see us in pain and always tried to make us laugh so I try to keep a smile on my face most of the time,” Kailey Karner said.

Wife Jessica Barmore grew spiritually, emotionally and more compassionate for others. As a Hosparus Social Worker, Jessica Barmore deals with patients at end of life and close to death. Even being around death everyday, it still turns your world upside down when it happens at home. “Not only having the empathy I had before but the empathy I grew while Jacob was in it (Hosparus) helped me grow so much. Now that I know what it feels like to be on both sides of the spectrum, as a family member and a social worker. His death has helped me to be more qualified to be a social worker for Hosparus,” Jessica Barmore said. Jacob helped the family grow tremendously. 

With the short three years that the family knew Barmore, we made a lifetime of memories. He was a spur of the moment kind of person. He was always ready for anything you threw at him. Some of Bailey’s favorite memories include going to the beach for family vacations and when we decided to go to the movies one summer at 12 a.m.and didn’t get home until three that morning. 

On our second family vacation to Orange Beach, Barmore had run a fever almost the whole trip and barely had enough strength to get out of bed. On Saturday, when we were supposed to leave and Barmore got a hold of the people who owned the condo to see if it was possible to spend another night there. Barmore told us that on Sunday, we would do all the stuff that we wanted to do that vacation. That day he put aside how he felt and we went all over Orange Beach. “The last day that we stayed we did everything that we had wanted to on that vacation all together. We went to LuLu’s, The Track, Whataburger, the pier and the arcade,” Bailey Karner said.

Kailey loved when we would go on late-night drives and somehow always end up at McDonald’s. Barmore was always up for anything so if Kailey asked him to make a TikTok with her, he would take on that challenge. “Jacob would spend about an hour learning dances with me and Bailey, but as soon as I would hit record to do the actual TikTok, he would forget everything. I usually ended up just cutting the sound and recording it in clips so we could get it done,” Kailey Karner said.

Jessica and Jacob went to high school together but never really knew each other. Barmore always said that he remembered calling “Jessica Pate,” off of the roster when substituting but she was never there. Barmore has messaged Jessica on Facebook and said that he remembered her from high school and from there, things took off. One of Jessica’s favorite memories was their honeymoon when they went on a cruise through Cozumel, Belize, Cayman Island and Mahogany Bay. 

Bamore was always able to get people to go out of their comfort zone without making them feel bad. He didn’t know how much time he had left and didn’t wanna waste a second of it. 

“In those three years I feel that I truly lived my life to the fullest,” Jessica Barmore said.

Barmore was an amazing person. He accomplished so much and impacted so many in the short 38 years he was here. Barmore was a basketball coach for Spencer County Bears and a special education teacher. Barmore was able to lead the Bears to a district championship in 2011, was named Eighth District coach of the year and at 22, was the youngest head coach in Kentucky high school basketball in 2004. Jacob always was able to see potential in his students, friends, family and players. Jacob went on to teach at Doss High School as a credit recovery/edgenuity teacher. He always believed in you even when you didn’t believe in yourself. 

“He always wanted to support me to be a better person and to be the best version of myself. That was one of the things he said in our wedding vows and I feel like he did that. One of the things he did best was having patience, he taught me how to be more patient and encouraging,” Jessica Barmore said. Jacob was always able to brighten your day, even when he wasn’t having a good day, he always put others first.