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Post by Machiavelli on Sept 11, 2009 8:55:17 GMT -6
Family, if you have not already heard, our childhood friend John Barabin, son of Pinkie C. Wilkerson, passed way this week after a battle with cancer. John's funeral is scheduled for next Friday, Sept. 18 at 3PM at Lewis Temple CME Church in Grambling. A family hour/wake is not definite at this time. If you would like to serve as pall bearer or anything else, please contact Delores Smith at 318-247-8480. And, if you have any pics, please email them to Beth at smith.elizabeth.d@gmail.com. Pass this on to anyone on your friends list that I may not have.
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Post by Machiavelli on Sept 17, 2009 12:27:11 GMT -6
John David Barabin, Jr. (09-15-2009) Funeral services for John David Barabin, Jr. will be held Friday at 3 p.m. at Lewis Temple CME Church in Grambling. John passed Thursday morning, Sept. 10 in Grambling following a bout with cancer. He was born March 15, 1969, in Ruston to the union of John David Barabin, Sr. and the late State Rep. Pinkie Carolyn Wilkerson. From the very beginning, John’s was a story of struggle and triumph. Shortly after he was born, the doctors said his chances of living were slim. And if he did live, they predicted he would be mentally challenged. Obviously, they were wrong. Not only did he live, John David Barabin, Jr. lived well. Those who knew John saw he had the courage and intellect to follow his dreams. That, he did with great tenacity. One dream was to own a business and, like his grandfather, the late Calvin Wilkerson, be a successful businessman. John’s journey in business started as a child in Grambling with a snow cone business. In 2003, at age 34, he acquired a majority stake in AIM Document Management in Cinnaminson, N.J., outside Philadelphia. As president, he transformed this small healthcare industry microfilm firm into a multi-million dollar document scanning outsourcing and technology enterprise. He also owned a document storage company. All this business ownership success followed a lucrative career as an investment banker, negotiating over $1.6 billion in public offerings with banking/investment firms Bear Stearns & Co. in New York City; Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc. in Baltimore; Venture Capital Report, LTD. in Oxford, England; and SunTrust Bank in Atlanta. John however, described his greatest accomplishment as mentor to Rev. Ronnie Danielly, a relationship which begun during his undergraduate days at Morehouse and continued until his death. On the personal side, friends and family knew John as one who enjoyed life to the fullest and one who loved to travel. His resume lists his hobbies as snow-skiing, tennis and “attending the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.” But family and close friends saw much more. They saw a giving young man who loved people and his family. These “hobbies” oftentimes were reasons to be with family and friends. John was the one to call an uncle, a friend or a cousin to accompany him to some event in a far flung place in the world in search of his “hobby.” He would be the one to set up the itinerary and make the arrangements. Indeed, he was a world traveler who has been to more than 50 countries and 40 states in the United States. In addition to New Orleans, his love of jazz, for instance, has taken him to such places as Monterey, Calif. and The Netherlands. Those who knew him would say he enjoyed life to the fullest and approached it with vigor and courage. He loved people and he loved his family and he loved to be with them. John is a 1991 graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration and a concentration in banking and finance. He was an honor student at Morehouse who served a two-year term as a member of the school’s board of trustees. In 1997, he received the master of business administration degree from Dartmouth University’s Amos Tuck School of Business Administration. He has done further study at the University of Navarra’s International graduate School of Management in Barcelona, Spain and completed a course on equity finance sponsored by the European Venture Capital Association in Amsterdam. He was preceded in death by his mother, Pinkie Carolyn Wilkerson; maternal grandparents Calvin and Dora Wilkerson; and paternal grandparents Samuel and Lizzie Barabin. Cherishing fond memories of a life well lived are his father John D. Barabin, Sr.; an aunt, Delores Wilkerson Smith (Leon); uncles Ashton Wilkerson, Leroy Barabin (Bonnie), Joseph Barabin (Barbara), Larry Barabin (Florence): cousins who were like siblings, Tanya Wilkerson, Elizabeth Smith and Burgundie Smith; godmother Marion Gilkes; Nana T- Marvette Thomas, Godson Grant Andrew Lupson-Campbell; and a host of other relatives and friends including Conrad Lewis and Golden Minter.
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