Jo Alice Tarwater, Ed.D., beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother, went to be with Christ the Lord on Friday, July 30, 2010.

Jo Alice Aiken Tarwater was born August 9, 1932 in Tampa, Florida and passed away at Sacred Heart Hospital after a brief but serious illness.

A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, she was also a distinguished educator who touched the lives of many people.

She loved to learn and graduated as salutatorian from Tampa's Thomas Jefferson High School, then attended Florida State University.

 In 1951, she married James G. Tarwater. They had four children, Michael, Barbara, Sam, and Jim.

After her children were born, she returned to her studies, graduating with honors from Pensacola Junior College and the University of West Florida where she also received her Master's Degree.

 She continued her education at Nova University, earning her doctorate in Educational Leadership.

Dr. Tarwater was indeed a leader in education, serving first as a teacher at Ferry Pass Elementary, as Curriculum Coordinator at Pine Meadow Elementary, and then as principal of Barrineau Park Elementary and Myrtle Grove Elementary.

 In 1990, she was chosen to be the founding principal of Hellen Caro Elementary School until she became Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources for the Escambia County School District.

She was a member and past president of Delta Kappa Gamma, an honorary society for women educators.

During her long and remarkable career, she received numerous awards including being named a Florida Regional Principal of the Year and University of West Florida's Outstanding Alumna.

 She was also a Visiting Clinical Professor at Florida State University in the 1990's and after her retirement served as an adjunct professor for Pensacola Junior College.

She was an assessor for NASSP's program for aspiring administrators and served on the principal interview committees for Santa Rosa County for many years.

However long her list of accomplishments, they do not speak to the true impact which Jo Tarwater made on the lives she touched.

 She was blessed with a tremendous gift of vision, not just for what institutions could be with hard work and clear goal setting but also for what people could become.

She saw in others what they might be. She encouraged, refined, and never gave up on those she believed in until she helped them reach their potential.

Even then, she was always there to lend a helping hand and to set redirection and continued purpose should anyone stumble or fall.

This was true for the young principals she mentored, for students and parents, for colleagues and friends and most of all for her family.

No description of her life's work or her many honors, shows this like a true example from her life. As a young mother, she and her husband shared a small bedroom in his parent's house with their infant son.

Every night when they went to sleep she held little Michael's hand in her own so that he would always know he was loved. That was the quintessential Jo Alice Tarwater.

 She held our hands. Our lives are bereft, but we know that she has simply passed through the gates of larger life and now is watching over us from heaven.

She was a loving, faithful believer and lover of the Lord.

May we always live by His example and hers in the service of others.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her older sister, Barbara.

Surviving is her husband of 59 years, James G. Tarwater, of Pensacola; their children, Michael Tarwater and wife, Ann, of Charlotte, NC; Barbara Tarwater, of Pensacola; Dr. Sam Tarwater and wife, Jeanne, of Dothan, AL; James G. Tarwater, Jr. and wife, Anne, of Franklin, TN; sisters, Martha Falgout of Miami, FL, Frances Sanders, of Atlanta, GA and Cindy Ferrell of Tampa, FL; grandchildren, Kathryn T. Pittman and husband, Dr. Daniel M. Pittman, of Dothan, AL, Allison T. Bissette and husband, Ben Bissette, and Michael E. Tarwater, all of Charlotte, NC; Samantha JoAlice Harris of Gainesville, FL; Joseph, Andrew and Ruth Ann Tarwater of Dothan, AL; Eliza, Jerry and Martha Rose Tarwater of Franklin, TN; and great-grandchildren, Alice and Jack Pittman of Dothan, AL.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at Myrtle Grove Baptist Church, 5920 Lillian Highway, Pensacola, FL.

The family will receive friends at the church from 1:00pm to 2:00pm prior to the memorial service.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Hellen Caro Elementary School, 12551 Meadson Road Pensacola, FL 32506.

Arrangements are in the care of PENSACOLA MEMORIAL GARDENS AND FUNERAL HOME, 7433 Pine Forest Road, Pensacola, FL 32526.