Standing By Your People, From the First Call to the Victory Bell
December 8, 2025
Those who’ve suffered through cancer almost always remember their ‘first call’ after their diagnosis. The person at the other end of the line often becomes a sympathetic and encouraging presence as their friend, family member or coworker grapples with their fears, disbelief and all the other emotions of that moment, and they’re quick to offer whatever help they can.
For Jeff Barstow, senior vice president at King Aerospace, his first call upon learning he had prostate cancer was to company Founder and Chairman Jerry King. And King was there again this past October as Jeff marked the successful end to that journey.
Jeff’s voice catches while sharing his cancer story, which began while he and King were on a cross-country work trip in late 2022. “I’d recently had a bout with kidney stones, and my doctor had sent me for all these tests and scans afterward,” he says. “I couldn’t reach him from the road to talk about what they’d found. I told myself it was all just routine follow-up, but I also had the sense he wanted to talk to me face-to-face.”
Once back home in Seattle, Jeff went to the doctor accompanied by his wife, Melanie, and their young grandson. He knew something was wrong moments after the doctor walked into the exam room.
“At my past appointments he would always lean against the corner of a sink in the wall, with his laptop computer on the sill,” Jeff recalls. “This time, he brought over an extra chair and said, ‘I need you to sit down next to me. I have some information to show you.'”
Finding the Right ‘Mechanic’
Jeff left the doctor’s office that day in a daze. “The wheels weren’t really turning yet,” he says. “I told Melanie what the doctor had told me, and my grandson asked if I was okay because my eyes were red. I said, ‘Yeah, I guess they are.’”
As they went on with their day as best they could, Jeff knew he also needed to call Jerry King. The two had met ten years earlier, shortly after Jeff was named chief operating officer and director of business operations at Boeing Business Jets in 2012.
“In my new role, I had planned to travel to meet with King Aerospace and our BBJ other contractors,” he recalls. “So, I called Jerry to find a good time to visit, and he told me, ‘nah, Barstow. You’re important enough that we all should come to see you.'”
That was the start of a deep friendship with Jerry and, soon after, Jarid King. Their families often meet for dinner; they even take vacations together. When Barstow left Boeing in 2020, it was a natural fit for him to join King Aerospace.
“Jerry was the first call I made with the news of my diagnosis,” Jeff continues. “He immediately told me, ‘you’ve got this, and I’ll tell you what my own father told me. Your body is a Rolls-Royce. It is the best in the world. And it needs the best mechanic in the world.’
“’MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has saved our lives twice,’” King continued, referring to his and wife Barbara King’s own bouts with cancer. “’And they can help you, Jeff.’”
Survivorship
King immediately told Barbara about Jeff’s situation. She, in turn, called their contacts in Houston. “I’m almost certain it wasn’t even an hour later when I got a call from someone at MD Anderson,” Jeff says.
Soon, the Barstows were on a flight to Texas for the first of many more tests and x-rays over the next several months. Jeff also underwent genomic matrix testing, which showed his was a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer, requiring urgent treatment.
“The doctor discussed all the options,” he says. “He told me, ‘I can’t say you’ll be cured, but with your margins I am 99.9 percent confident that if we just get [your prostate] out, you’ll never have to worry about this again.”
Jeff underwent surgery on August 15, 2023, followed soon after by a series of observation appointments, MRIs and blood tests. “The first appointment was at three weeks, then five weeks and then it was monthly throughout the first year,” he says. “Eventually, they stretched it to six months.”
MD Anderson refers to this time as survivorship, in keeping with a simple credo posted next to a prominent bell in the center’s waiting area: “You became a cancer survivor the day you were diagnosed.”
But even though subsequent tests showed no indication of recurrence, Jeff found little comfort in that good news. “It was always in the back of my mind: ‘what if my numbers go up?’” he says. “Yes, I was back at work and living my life, but the anxiety and fear were always there.”
‘Be There for Your People’
Jeff’s final observation appointment was on October 23rd and – as expected – his test results continued to show no further signs of cancer. That allowed him to ring that bell, signifying he was officially cancer-free. The tradition, common at many cancer treatment centers today, is widely believed to have started at MD Anderson almost thirty years ago.
Melanie organized a surprise gathering of close friends for the milestone that, of course, included Jerry King. “This was the same week his grandson (Jarid’s second child, Beau) was born in Dallas!” Jeff says. “I couldn’t believe he was there.”
King wouldn’t have missed it. “Southwest Airlines Founder and President Herb Kelleher once told me, ‘Jerry, be there with your people when they celebrate and when they hurt. Just be there with them,” he adds. “I was honored to stand with Jeff throughout his fight with cancer, and very happy to celebrate his victory in that fight.”
Ringing the bell was a deeply personal experience for Jeff. “Somebody rang their bell during my first appointment in February of ’23,” he explains. “But I don’t remember hearing it again at any of my other appointments.
“So, it was kind of a ‘full circle’ moment for me,” he continues, fighting back tears. “Now, I know many others also rang their own bells, and I just wasn’t there to hear them. But there are those who won’t be able to do that, too.”
That is one reason why this experience has provided Jeff with a renewed perspective on what matters most. “I’m still trying to get my head around how these connections happen,” he says. “I met Jerry. We talked, and a friendship grew. Because of that friendship, he was there to walk me through this horrible disease.
“And I now have the chance to be there for others in the same way.”