EVERETT — In many ways, Tim Jarboe was a model of consistency.
He loved his wife of 41 years, his three grown daughters, Ford Mustangs and his job selling ads for The Herald.
He also was partial to his mustache, which he grew as a high school senior in 1969 and never got around to shaving off.
For business people in south Snohomish County and downtown Everett, Jarboe was a frequent visitor or friendly voice on the other end of the telephone line for more than 43 years.
“He has been the downtown man,” Herald advertising director Ken Clements said Monday. “They knew him as the face of the Everett Herald.”
Jarboe, 61, died Dec. 30 from complications of larynx cancer.
Jarboe had just turned 18 when he was hired as a newspaper messenger to run advertisements to businesses to be proofed.
From there, he moved into sales.
“He loved his job,” his wife, Deborah Jarboe, said Monday. “He loved the people he worked with and working for his clients. He was more into service than into selling.”
Jarboe worked in the advertising department with Larry Hanson, who went on to become publisher of The Herald from 1984 to 2001.
Both grew up in Snohomish County and spent their entire careers working for their hometown paper.
“I appreciated so much his energy and his personality,” Hanson said. “He just had great customer service skills.”
For all the challenges inherent in the competitive world of ad sales, Jarboe never showed signs of stress, Hanson said.
Nor did he lose hope when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2011.
“I never met a man who was so positive,” Clements said.
Jarboe met his future wife while performing the Thornton Wilder play, “Our Town,” in a junior English class at Mountlake Terrace High School. As seniors, they had more classes together. Jarboe was smitten with Deborah and impressed that she drove a green convertible Ford Mustang. He later got a Mustang of his own.
They celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 2011 and traveled to Paris and London.
Jarboe spent eight years as a Kamiak High School band booster, helping raise money for his daughters’ and other students’ trips near and far, including performances at a Macy’s Day Parade, Disney World and one of President Bill Clinton’s inaugurations.
“He was right there with them wherever they went,” Deborah Jarboe said.
His wife is thankful that he lived to see the October wedding of their middle daughter, Kimberley.
By then, his voice box had been surgically removed, but he was determined to deliver a toast.
Using an iPhone ap, he wrote and rewrote the words that the computer voice delivered.
Chemotherapy left him bald. At the wedding, Jarboe wore a black hat with “Father of the bride” embroidered in white letters as he proudly walked her down the aisle.
Jarboe is survived by his wife, daughters Jennifer and Christine Jarboe, and Kimberley McDowell, along with her husband, Brent.
A memorial is set for 2 p.m. Jan. 5 at Edmonds Methodist Church, 828 Caspers St.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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