L. Irvin Barnhart

1943 - 2015

L. Irvin Barnhart
1943-2015
Irvin Barnhart was the son of Paul F. and Virginia Barnhart. He was named after Virginia's father, Leslie Leroy Irvin, inventor of the rip cord parachute. Irvin attended River Oaks Elementary School, Kinkaid School, Virginia Military Institute and earned a degree in geology from the University of Texas in Austin. He was employed as a field geologist for Consolidated Oil and Gas out of Denver, Colorado until returning to the family business where he joined his father and brother, Paul, in oil & gas, ranching, real estate and investment endeavors.
From a young age, Irvin enjoyed the outdoors, spending many days exploring and hunting on family ranches in South Texas. As a child, Irvin lived on the third floor of his family's River Oaks home which had a shooting gallery where he could shoot a low caliber rifle in his room. His room was decorated with hunting trophies, guns, and collectibles that Irvin had put together.
"Dirty Irv", as his high school friends would call him, had a souped up 1961 Tornado which was the envy of every guy in town. Irvin would often be seen popping the trunk to show off the hardware store that resided in there.
At the beginning of the 1961 Kinkaid School football season, Irvin and his friends were gearing up for the annual match against their rival, the St. John's Rebels. This rivalry was sometimes referred to as The Tuxedo Bowl. Irvin said "We should find a way to take the wind out of their sails. What could we do to discombobulate them?" The guys decided to steal their opponents life sized mascot, Johnny Reb. They simply walked into the St. John's gym and snatched their prize ultimately winding up at the Shamrock Hilton swimming pool where they took celebratory photos. Word of the kidnapping spread quickly and the head of school commanded that they return Johnny to St. John's. Johnny Reb was returned and Irvin was highly satisfied with the little kidnapping.
In 1972, after the passing of his mother, Irvin, his father and brother went on safari in Kenya. This safari was a life changing experience for Irvin. He fell in love with Africa and during his life, made 81 trips to 16 countries in Africa. Irvin hunted six of the continents of the world. He loved to hunt birds and big game in South America and hunted in Canada, Asia and Europe as often as he could. During the peak of Irvin's hunting career, he was the most active hunter in the world. He was also one of the most beautiful shots. Many have said that the rifle was just an extension of him.
In 1991, Irvin married his wife of 23 years, Wendy Giese. Wendy joined Irvin on many of his hunts and she became a very accomplished hunter in her own right. He always encouraged Wendy to hunt big game. At that time, Irvin began his collection of birds that he hunted from all over the world. They loved hunting the world together, visiting friends, and shopping where Irvin could never just buy one of something.
Over the years, Irvin and Wendy were very active members of Safari Club International where Irvin served on numerous committees. Irvin was on the Safari Club record book committee for Africa since 1986. He won all of the major SCI hunting awards including Houston Safari Club's Frank Green award. In 1993, Irvin was presented the prestigious Weatherby Foundation International Trophy by General H Norman Schwarzkopf.
Irvin's passion was not just hunting. It was the appreciation of seeing wild game in their natural habitat. Irvin spent much of his time raising different species of wild game on the family ranch. For the past 30 years, Irvin raised 28 different species of game and found most enjoyment not after the shot, but simply watching the animals in their natural environment. Irvin and Wendy spent hours and hours cruising around the ranch, watching the animals grow from infancy to adulthood, knowing each animal by their unique color patterns, antlers and habits.
Irvin's philanthropic efforts were focused on conservation and preservation. He was a member of over 40 conservation organizations and was a strong contributor to their preservation efforts. Irvin was also instrumental in teaching shooting and hunting skills to hundreds of children. He loved taking children on their first hunts on one of his ranches. He donated many hours of hunts on his ranches to help raise funds for conservation and preservation.
If you were lucky enough to have known Irvin, you would know he was quite the collector. He had an extensive collection of artifacts, paintings, bottle caps, magazines, rubber bands and even wine corks. Friends would send Irvin wine corks from all around the world and some people even left them on the gate of Irvin and Wendy's home. He was also a man who collected memories as well. He could always recall the intricate details of every hunting experience. Irvin could describe the hunt, the animals, weather conditions, location, food he ate, the people he met along the way and the hunters that joined him on each of these expeditions. Irvin had the memory of 20 elephants and enough adventures to fill a hundred life times.
Irvin has now joined other great hunters, Frank Green, Dan Duncan, Ray Bailey and Greg Rodriguez. They are forever together hunting with the angels with the largest wings. He was a giant in the hunting world and the world will miss him.
Irvin is preceded in death by his father, Paul F. Barnhart, mother, Virginia Barnhart, father-in-law James Albert Giese, mother-in-law Babe Giese. Irvin is survived by his wife, Wendy Barnhart, brother, Paul F. Barnhart, Jr. and his wife Karol Barnhart, sister, Velda Wyche, niece Kelly Barnhart and her daughter Lila Garwood, nephew Paul F. Barnhart, III and his wife Katie Barnhart and their son Wynn Barnhart, brother-in-law, Jim Giese and his wife Lynn Giese, sister-in-law, Jo Giese and her husband Ed Warren, nephew Tony Giese, nephew, Chris Giese and wife Jennifer Giese and their sons, James Giese and Walker Giese.
The family would like to thank Tina Diaz and all of the nurses for their endless compassion and perseverance.
There will be a private burial and private reception in his honor. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the following:
MD Anderson Cancer Center to help fund bladder cancer research.
Mail to: Dr. Jianjun Gao c/o Jennifer Jung
MD Anderson Cancer Center - GU Medical Oncology
1155 Pressler St., Unit 1374
Houston, TX 77030
Enclose a note which states "I have enclosed a contribution to Dr. Jianjun Gao in memory of Irvin Barnhart in the amount of $______ and is directed to help support his bladder cancer research. This contribution should be wholly used for research and no administration fee or indirect costs may be deducted by MD Anderson."
Houston Safari Club Conservation & Preservation
9432 Katy Freeway
Suite 350
Houston, TX 77055
(713) 623-8844