HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — Community members gathered for more than a typical weekend barbecue at the Red Barn Ranch in Harrisonville, Missouri, Saturday to remember a man those closest to him say was the "life of the party."
After Jared Fizer passed away at age 33 in November of 2020, his family and friends found a unique way to honor his memory.
Jared Fizer's family and close friend Matt Moreland, owner of Red Barn Ranch, hosted a barbecue competition they say he would have loved — featuring live music, drinks, games and, of course, good eats.
"It would have been Jared’s favorite thing, He loved to barbecue, he loved to be around his friends," Jared's wife, Jennifer Fizer, said. "It’s kind of like Jared is still with us."
Jared's friends and family say he had an impact on those around him over the course of his 33 years, but his time was cut short before he was able to accomplish all of his goals.
"His dream had always been to be a heavy equipment operator, he just never got the chance to do it," Jennifer said.
The barbecue competition helped fund the Jared Fizer Memorial Scholarship Fund, created by those closest to Fizer in his memory, to help provide scholarships for students looking to attend a technical college.
"He never went to school and he always regretted that," Moreland said. "We came up with the idea of doing a scholarship for kids going to tech school."
Moreland says the idea for the scholarship came about after those close to Jared discovered there is a lack of technical college scholarships. A goal of $3,000 was set for the scholarship.
Jared continues to be remembered and celebrated by friends and family, who are doing what he loved to help support those who share a similar dream as he did.
"Smoking meat, reminiscing, talking about Jared and we all have our own Jared stories. In a lot of ways he was still the life of this party," Moreland said.
