John S. Jarboe

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John Stevens Jarboe
July 29, 1933 - February 7, 2025

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John S. Jarboe , age 91, of Waco, Texas, died February 7, 2025. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10 a.m. Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at St. Jerome Catholic Church, 9820 Chapel Rd., Woodway, Tx. Rosary will be recited at 9 a.m. prior to the mass. Burial will follow the mass in the Oakwood Cemetery in Waco by the OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Boulevard, Waco, TX. (www.oakcrestwaco.com)

John was a professional engineer in Oklahoma and Texas. He worked for 50 years in construction, design, operation, and maintenance of large dams and hydro-electric power plants. He often referred to himself as The Dam Engineer.

John was born July 29, 1933 in Enid, OK, to Ralph R. and Cecilia Stevens Jarboe. He grew up in Enid and graduated from Enid High School. As a youth John was interested in sports and played baseball and basketball with local teams. He was proud to have been a two-year basketball letterman and preserved his coveted letter jacket all of his life.

John attended Oklahoma A&M College and graduated with a BS in 1955 two years before the school was renamed Oklahoma State University. After college he worked in the West Texas oil fields for two years before enlisting in the US Army Reserve. After his active-duty training John went to work for the Corps of Engineers in Tulsa, OK and worked on design, construction, and Operation and Maintenance planning for the Arkansas River Navigation project that provided commercial water transportation from the Mississippi River to Tulsa, OK.

In fall of 1961, John's reserve unit was activated because of the crisis created when the Russians constructed the Berlin Wall, and he served on active duty for one year with the 808th Engineer Company. After he was released from active duty, he returned to Tulsa and continued his career with the Corps of Engineers.

After the Arkansas River Navigation was completed, John and his family moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he was the Chief of the Maintenance Section of the Fort Worth District Operations overseeing the maintenance of dams and park areas. He worked for 22 years in Fort Worth and advanced to positions of greater responsibility. The last six years before retirement from the Corps of Engineers, he was the Chief of Operations Division responsible for the operation and maintenance of the dams, facilities, and project lands for the 25 Fort Worth Lake Products.

After 35 years of service John retired from the Corps of Engineers and moved to Waco to take a position with the Brazos River Authority. He worked at the BRA another 15 years as the Authorities Dam Safety Officer and as Project Manager for several major maintenance projects on the dams at Possum Kingdom and Lake Granbury.

Ten years after his retirement from the Corps of Engineers, John was inducted into the Fort Worth Districts Gallery of Distinguished Employees. He was the 48th person to be inducted into the Gallery of the Fort Wort District that was established in 1950. As long as the Fort Office remains, a plaque with his portrait and a listing of his achievements will be displayed in his memory to honor his career.

John met and married Rosalie Vinton while he was working in Tulsa and together they raised two sons. Rosalie's support greatly assisted his career maintaining the household in his frequent absences and twice moving to different cities.

John was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Ralph. He is survived by his wife Rosalie and sons, Steven and Michael, and five grandchildren.

The family invites friends to share a memory and sign his Guestbook at www.oakcrestwaco.com