Hatch Barrett

1931 - 2016

S. Hatch Barrett
April 27, 1931 ~ May 7, 2016
Hatch was a flawed and imperfect man. To quote from his brother-in-law; "If I'd have known Ruth was Hatch Barrett's sister, I'd have never dated her."
Born April 27, 1931, in the heart of the Great Depression, Hatch lived most of his childhood on the extended family farm in Woods Cross Utah. Other than having to walk barefoot in the snow several miles (the mileage increased over time) every day to school, he lived what sounded like an idyllic childhood.
For some reason (probably a disparate act on his father's part to get away from his mother-in-law) the family moved to Pocatello in the late thirties or early forties. It seems Hatch did not graduate from high school. When asked to comment about this, he claims he was having "too much fun and making too much money" to worry about school. This certainly sounds like the years following World War II. These good times however, as they always seem to do, came to an abrupt end when he was shipped off to Burns Oregon to work at his grandmother's gas station.
This experience evidently had the desired effect because he soon mended his ways (hah), passed the High School Graduate Equivalent tests and was accepted as a freshman at Idaho State College in 1950. In his second year of college, Hatch was drafted for military service. Choosing the Air Force rather than the Army, he signed up for a four-year hitch and served in Japan as a radio operator. It was there in Tokyo he met and married Claire Francis Peterson, his wife of 63 years who survives him in death.
After graduating with an accounting degree from Idaho State College in 1956, Hatch embarked on a successful business career, which along with his many roles as a civic leader he never really retired.
Somehow children manage to accommodate their parent's imperfections. We have come to believe a parent's only real obligation to their children is to teach them how to love. To his children, Hatch did this in full measure.
Per Hatch's request, there was a private family service, and please no flowers, for those who choose, the College of Western Idaho has created a Scholarship Fund in Hatch's name please send Donations to CWI Foundation – Professional Truck Driving & Heavy-Duty Truck Technician Programs.
Mail To: College of Western Idaho Foundation
MS 1000
PO Box 3010
Nampa, ID 83653
cwidaho.cc/foundation
One of Hatch's good friends asked if there was a Kenworth Dealer in Heaven, if not there would be one in a week.