Richard Lee Barrett Sr's Obituary
His family always joked that he would have 9 lives, because despite surviving a war, a plane crash (as a passenger), a motorcycle accident, falling off of a roof holding a running chainsaw, cancer, a 15 foot fall in his own backyard, and many other death-defying mishaps, Richard Lee Barrett Sr passed away very suddenly in his doctor’s office in Dallas on October 4, 2022.
He is survived by his wife, Pamela Jean Barrett, sons Richard L. Barrett Jr (Ricky), Jeffrey Barrett and his wife Mindy, daughter Nicole (Nikki) and her fiancée Darren Kaats, bonus son Nick, bonus daughter Jessica, nephew Aleksander Josephson and four amazing grandchildren Reser (18), Justice (17), Piper (17), and Jack (15). He was preceded in death by his parents Leland S. and Marie Cortsen Barrett, twin brothers Scott and Joseph Barrett, and his first wife, Nancy Chavern Barrett (1948-2010).
Born February 12, 1948, in Salt Lake City, Utah, he spent his childhood in Utah, Texas, and California. Rick graduated from Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, CA in 1966 and went on to the University of Utah where he graduated with a BS in Physics in 1970. Later, he continued his education with an MS Business from University of Northern Colorado in 1982 and further graduate work in Remote Sensing and Geospatial Information Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas from 2006-2009. It was at University of Utah where he met his first wife Nancy and where he was a resident advisor in the dorms. He convinced Nancy to go on a date with him by finding her misplaced meal card and offering to give it back over dinner. It must have worked, because Rick and Nancy were married August 29, 1970, and stayed happily married for 40 years, had 3 children together (Ricky, Jeff, and Nikki) and were separated by her death in 2010. After graduating in 1970 he joined the United States Air Force and served in the Vietnam War flying fighter jets while stationed in Thailand. After retiring from active duty in 1983, he moved his young family (Nancy, Ricky, Jeff and Nikki) to Dallas, TX to begin his career as Sr. Principal Systems engineer at E-Systems (now Raytheon). But his long career in Dallas involved more than engineering. Rick had a passion for education and taught Computer Science classes at Richland College and Southern Methodist University. Once he retired from Raytheon in 2013, he began his own company, Richard Barrett Productions. Nancy passed away in 2010 and he met his beloved Pam in January 2018. They were married October 7, 2018, in a ceremony in Dallas and Pam joined the Barrett family with her son Nick and daughter Jessica along with her loving sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, in-laws and other family. As they met and married late in life, Rick and Pam opted to celebrate their anniversary on the 7th of every month, rather than annually. They had 47 beautiful anniversaries together. Ricky, Jeff and Nikki are incredibly grateful to Pam for loving their dad and making him so happy in his final years.
Rick loved his years as a fighter pilot. He would say that there are 3 types of pilots: 1) a pilot where the plane is a natural extension of the body, 2) a pilot who understands the physics of how and why it all works and 3) people who shouldn’t be flying. Rick regarded himself as in the second category. Being a pilot wasn’t a lifelong dream, but rather a stroke of luck as he was drafted for the Vietnam war just as he was completing his degree in Physics at U of U. Though originally drafted by the Army, he approached the US Air Force with his Physics degree and applied to be a pilot. He was quickly entered into the pilot training, graduated the USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training in 1971 and was awarded his wings in February 1972. He stayed with the Air Force after the war stationing in Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona, flying jets all over the world. He retired from active duty in 1983 and remained on in the reserves until 1999 when he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was an active part of a lifelong brotherhood of USAF pilots and will be greatly missed by them. Many responding to the news with “Nickel” which is a reference to “Throw a nickel in the grass. Save a fighter pilot’s ass” and is a tribute to a fallen pilot.
There is no possible way to list all of the beloved friends and family that Rick touched with his generosity and adventurous spirit. Those who knew him can attest that he was an engineer to his core. There was literally nothing that he wouldn’t attempt to fix, with many of these adventures leading to one of the mishaps mentioned above. So much so
that when his daughter Nikki had to hire a plumber, said plumber was in absolute awe of the innovative sink installation remarking, “Who the hell did this to you?” His home projects often defied logic, such as a guest bathroom with a glass door. While it may have defied logic, Rick’s design ideas were also endlessly entertaining to his family. Jokes aside, quirky and endearing and freakishly smart, he was always there to help a friend in need. There was no project too big or small that the infallible Rick Barrett wouldn’t take on to help make someone’s life better.
His interests were endless. He trained for a marathon, taught swim lessons, competed in triathlons, did hot yoga, loved museums and music and the arts in general. And he was always keenly interested in whatever his kids and grandkids were into as well. He attended many concerts and plays at his grandkids’ schools over the years. He and Pam loved the arts and were Gold Stradivarius Patron members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and frequented shows at Broadway Dallas with their season tickets. They were members of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden with a special flower bed dedicated from Rick to Pam. They enjoyed many concerts on the Arboretum grounds as well and could be found dancing at their table. He and Pam loved traveling the world together, setting a goal of 2 trips per month to beautiful and interesting destinations like Hawaii, Italy, New York, Las Vegas, Napa Valley, and the list goes on. Second to Pam, some of his favorite travel buddies were his kids and his grandkids. At 74 years of age, this man had limitless energy for theme parks at Disneyworld and Universal Studios. And he did so in his signature neon T-shirts so that he’d be easy to find in the crowd. He lovingly gifted the joy of travel to everyone he loved. In fact, as a true renaissance man, he loved sharing all of his interests with everyone he loved. He is so incredibly missed.
Donations in Rick’s memory can be made to:
· University of Utah Physics Scholarship Fund
· Dallas Symphony Foundation
· Dallas Museum of Art Annual Fund
· Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden
Family Viewing will be held on Saturday, October 15, 2022, from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at Restland Funeral Home - 13005 Greenville Ave., Dallas, Texas 75243.
Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday October 29, 2022, at 1:00pm at First United Methodist Church Plano – 3160 E. Spring Creek Pkwy. Plano, TX 75074. A gathering of Rick’s loved ones will be held after the service on Saturday at the home of Rick’s daughter, Nikki – 1924 Uplands Drive Plano, TX 75025.
To the join the service please click the link:
https://www.youtube.com/c/FUMCPlano
Military Burial will be held on Monday October 31, 2022, at 10:30am at DFW National Cemetery – 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy. Dallas, TX 75211.
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