James Lee Tarr was a professional Scouter for 43 years who served as the seventh Chief Scout Executive

Chief Scout Executive

The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of executive director....

 of the Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

.

Personal life

Tarr was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...

. He joined the BSA in 1931 and attained the rank of Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

 in 1935. He attended Oklahoma A&M University and graduated in 1941 with a degree in business administration. He married his wife, Margret in 1941.

Tarr served in the United States Naval Reserve

United States Navy Reserve

The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...

 from 1943 to 1946 as a supply officer, serving in the South Pacific. He retired in 1965 with the rank of lieutenant commander. Jim was a member of the Rotary Club of Dallas in Dallas, Texas and served on both the Club Board of Directors and Foundation Board of Trustees.

Tarr died in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

 on February 27, 2008 from cancer.

Scouting

Tarr became a professional Scouter in 1941 and worked in the local council in San Marcos, Texas

San Marcos, Texas

San Marcos is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and is the seat of Hays County. Located within the metropolitan area, the city is located on the Interstate 35 corridor—between Austin and San Antonio....

. He later served as Scout executive of the Circle Ten Council

Circle Ten Council

Circle Ten Council is the main Boy Scouts of America chartered council in central north Texas and a portion of Oklahoma. It encompasses all or parts of: Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, Rains, Rockwall and Van Zandt counties in Texas as well as Bryan...

 covering North Central Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 as well as a portion of Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

Tarr served as Chief Scout Executive from 1979 to 1984.

He was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award

Distinguished Eagle Scout Award

The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...

 in 1979, the Order of the Arrow

Order of the Arrow

The Order of the Arrow is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America . It uses American Indian-styled traditions and ceremonies to bestow recognition on scouts selected by their peers as best exemplifying the ideals of Scouting. The society was created by E. Urner Goodman, with the...

 Distinguished Service Award

Distinguished Service Award (OA)

These are recipients of the Order of the Arrow 's Distinguished Service Award . See Honors and awards of the Order of the Arrow for a description of the DSA.-Recipients:...

 and the Cliff Dochterman Award from Rotary International

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

. He was also awarded the Bronze Wolf

Bronze Wolf

The Bronze Wolf Award is bestowed by the World Scout Committee to acknowledge "outstanding service by an individual to the World Scout Movement"...

, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement

World Organization of the Scout Movement

The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the Non-governmental international organization which governs most national Scout Organizations, with 31 million members. WOSM was established in 1920, and has its headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland...

, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.