Robert L. Barret

Robert L. Barret
June 25, 2022
Charlotte, North Carolina - Robert L. Barret, (1940-2022) passed away on June 25, 2022 after a challenging struggle with dementia. He is survived by his daughters: Ashley Barret of Greensboro, NC; Mandy Eckhardt of Idaho Falls, ID; and Laura Page of Dayton, OH. He also leaves behind thirteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Bob earned degrees from Rhodes College, Vanderbilt University and Georgia State University with a focus on counseling/psychology. He was a professor, psychologist, and writer in Charlotte, NC, and taught at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the Department of Counseling for twenty-nine years, retiring in 2008. Bob's publications dealt with parenting, issues of grief and loss, and clinical services to the sexual minority community. His books include Counseling Gay Men and Lesbians and Gay Fathers. He was highly active in promoting social justice in Charlotte and with the American Counseling Association. His research also dealt with workaholism and its effects on families and children. He was a licensed marriage and family therapist in addition to a licensed practicing counselor. In 2007, Bob spoke on the National Public Radio program This I believe, reading a personal account of his life which described his own struggles accepting his gay identity and how he came to accept his true self. A firm believer in change and challenging one's self, in 2013 at the age of seventy-three, he hiked and completed El Camino de Santiago, a 500+ mile network of pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. In 2014, he gave a fascinating interview about his life and the events that shaped who he was. A celebration of his life will take place in the Fall during the next Bob Barret lecture series event at UNCC.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Bob Barret Lecture Series.
Send checks to:
UNC Charlotte
Office of University Development
9201 University City Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28223
Include on the memo line the name: Bob Barret Lecture Endowment or include a note indicating The Bob Barret Lecture Endowment